RSS — Reading

Once you discover how to consume content with RSS, I’m sure there is no going back

Scott Gilbertson, Wired

Whether you are sick of social media, want to get away from endless notifications, or just want to read all your news all in one spot, an RSS reader can help. RSS stands for “really simple syndication.” It’s a protocol that allows an RSS reader to talk to your favorite websites and get updates from them. Instead of visiting 10 different sites to see what’s new, you view a single page with all new content.

There are two parts to RSS: the RSS reader and the RSS feeds from your favorite websites. RSS has been around a while now, so there are a lot of very good RSS readers out there. Most of them feature built-in search and suggestions too, so you don’t have to go hunting for RSS feeds yourself. You just might discover some cool new sites to read, too.

I’m guessing that if you’re reading this you’re most likely a person who spends some part of your day reading. Therefore, I thought I would share this post about reading with RSS , thinking it may be useful to a reader or two.

For as long as I can remember RSS has been the backbone of my reading process. I follow over 80 RSS feeds consisting of various types of content. NetNewsWire is my RSS client and Goodlinks is my read-it-later and bookmarks client. If you want to get started with RSS these are both great apps. NetNewsWire is free and Goodlinks is a one-time purchase for Mac, iPhone, and iPad apps.

Once you discover how to consume content with RSS, I’m sure there is no going back because the user experience in RSS is so much better than consuming content via a website.