Interesting Observations

blogging, social media and self-improvement!

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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:  RSS icon

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.

rssfeedsIts 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:

Who is reading your blog?

Communicating with people you haven’t met

Links, Backlinks, Pingbacks and Trackbacks – What Exactly Are They?

Creating Content From Everyday Life

Don’t let it bring you down!

I cannot add my Stumble Upon Fans as friends

Dilemma of Paid Reviews!

My Best Blogging Achievement

Coordination, Cooperation and Collaboration – Lead to Success

Delete or Edit Comment?

Any questions? still not convinced?  don’t hesitate to come back and ask in the comments.

Technorati Tags: RSS, Subscriptions, Reader, Google, Bloglines, Links
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18 comments
betshopboy

Oops! My blog isn’t on your Bloglines, I gotta work harder on my contents.

betshopboys last blog post..AsiaSoft Game Fest 2008

pearl

@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)

Mr Article

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?

Glen Allsopp

Just ask yourself whether your parents would know what it is? Mine wouldn’t…

I have a blog in the IM niche so never have to explain, but the one linked to my name probably needs a ‘what is rss’ page.

Something to add to the to do list ;)

Cheers,
Glen

Glen Allsopps last blog post..Embrace the Hard Times, They’re the Best Part

Glen Allsopp

WOOOOAH, very freaked out. Just got an alert from this in Google Blogsearch so thought it was a new post. Then seen my comment above from like 6 months ago.

Sorry for the double comment ;)

Cheers,
Glen

Glen Allsopps last blog post..Embrace the Hard Times, They’re the Best Part

    pearl

    hi Glen – I keep getting Google alerts for old posts or from other blogs I commented months ago, so yeah Google alerts is messing up

    but it is always good to have you on my blog :) so thanks!

banquet manager

Pearl,
Same thing keeps happening to me with the Google alerts.

grata kiev

I think I’m going to add a What is RSS page to the RSS section of the site.