Read the latest content of my blog at your convenience
I was surprised the other day to learn that my brother, who is a veterinarian by profession and oversees his own web site, had no clue about what RSS was.
So, how do you explain to someone why they should ’subscribe to your feed’ when they have no idea what you are talking about? This is what I told him and fortunately, he got it the first time.
Oh, the RSS… well, lets see: 
Its a way to read new content of any website on a single page, so you don’t have to remember each website’s address!
There are many companies who let you do that… Google does it through their application called Google Reader.
Its fairly simple to have a Google account and then click on Reader option and start adding sites that you want to see the newest content from. Also see here: A Quick Tour of Google Reader
I personally prefer Bloglines - another company that also lets you read your favorite sites on a single page - after signing up with them of course… you can see the sites I’ve added on my Bloglines here
I then showed him how to set up the his Google Reader since he already had a Google account.
Its easier to understand what RSS is once you sign up with either of the two i mentioned here and see it in action…
Go ahead, click on any one of these orange icons and you’ll be taken to a page where you can choose one of your favorite readers to subscribe to my feed and you’ll be able to read the latest content of this site as I publish it.
While you are here, I urge you to take a look at the Most Commented posts from menu below the header image OR click on any of the posts displaying in the gallery and see if you like the conversations that follow on this blog.
Don’t forget to check out the Archives for some interesting posts either. Here are some of my favorites:
Communicating with people you haven’t met
Links, Backlinks, Pingbacks and Trackbacks - What Exactly Are They?
Creating Content From Everyday Life
I cannot add my Stumble Upon Fans as friends
Coordination, Cooperation and Collaboration - Lead to Success
Any questions? still not convinced? don’t hesitate to come back and ask in the comments.
I have a “What is RSS” link on my front page, which also sorta explains on a step-by-step basis, what RSS is.
I didn’t quite get it the first time somebody explained it to me, so I understand the importance of a simple-to-understand guide to RSS
I do agree: RSS is a must and I use Google Reader.
Btw: Great, readable and educative post!
Pelf and Renny: I never thought RSS was something many people didn’t get.. but after I heard my own brother saying this, it really shocked me
thank you both for stopping by.. hope you are having a great weekend!
Oh, I just noticed, that commentluv didn’t work on your posts? I wonder why!
I am always surprised when I talk to software developers and engineers, and thy don’t know what RSS is. It’s probably one of the best inventions in a long time.
Mike Scotts last blog post..TR2N is coming.
Testing to see if you CommentLuv picks this up. If not, you might want to check to see if there’s a new version.
RT Cunningham | Philippines Hotels last blog post..How to Become a Noble UV Minion and Like it
Nope, it works!
RT Cunningham | Philippines Hotels last blog post..How to Become a Noble UV Minion and Like it
@Mike: right, it is. And I started believing that they really didn’t know it and not just pulling my leg, after reading about this issue in the blogs.. amazing!
@RT: Thanks for checking.. I know I can rely on you
I’m relying on the dashboard messages for plugin upgrades
I much prefer bloglines too, it’s much faster and way easier to scroll through. It’s easy to forget that we are all blogging newbies when we start and can’t assume that every reader knows what RSS or anything else is.
Are you using the most commented posts plug in or is it included in the template?
It’s the Top Posts plugin I think..
I think I’m going to add a What is RSS page to the RSS section of the site. This is especially important if you are dealing outside of the internet marketing niche where people are generally more web-savvy.
Thanks for reminding me about this
Glen
Glen Allsopps last blog post..Simple Steps to Organising your Personal Growth
Oops! My blog isn’t on your Bloglines, I gotta work harder on my contents.
betshopboys last blog post..AsiaSoft Game Fest 2008
@betshopboy: I checked after your comment… I have your blog in my google reader… but will add to bloglines so I can see it without logging in..
@Glen: I’ll need to work on the RSS article too and link it somewhere next to the subscription link
@Bobby: bloglines is definitely easier to scroll through, specially with the new beta release (which by now is old I know)
Couldn’t have summed it up better myself. I know plenty of people who own websites that still have no idea what RSS is, some don’t even know it exists. I usually found it hard trying to explain but i’ll quote you next time. Good work.
Mr Articles last blog post..What do snails eat?