Did you know that many people use RSS feeds to keep track of news and updates from their favorite websites? About 10% of online users, in fact, use RSS. If you want to get RSS feeds, there are a few things you need to know. Here are some of the basics about RSS, as well as the latest relevant news.
1. How Can I View RSS Feeds?
You will need an RSS Reader. Popular examples of reader services include Feedly, The Old Reader, and Comma Feed. Google Reader was one of the most popular services until Google shut it down on July 1, 2013. All you need to do is click “subscribe” for the websites or feeds you want to follow, and these readers will display them for you to see, all in one place. Most reader websites offer basic RSS capabilities for free.
2. What is the Best Replacement for Google Reader?
Although Google shut down its page, it has quietly added back a feed delivery service to its alert system. You can once again receive alerts for web searches through RSS, and not just email. This doesn’t mean Reader is back, but it does mean that Google is helping RSS remain accessible, and they are not trying to kill RSS as a following format. Most sites recommend Feedly as an alternative for Google; it received two million new subscribers in the weeks after Google’s announced shut down. Digg has also come recommended by many search experts.
3. What are the Most Popular Website News Feeds?
In most cases, popular websites correspond with the most popular RSS feeds. Twitter news feeds, Reuter news feeds, and CNN news feeds are all popular choices. So many people search for RSS feeds for these sites that they have, in fact, set up entire pages with RSS options, so that you can create custom news feeds tailored to your interests. Interestingly, Apple RSS feeds are very popular as well. They have RSS feeds so that you can follow, for example, the “Top 25 Free Apps,” or the “Top 10 Songs.”
What would you put in your custom news feed?