The term RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication. Before RSS feeds were available, in order to keep up with certain web sites a person had to book mark the web site and check in every other day or so to see if anything had been changed. If someone has several web sites that they want to keep tabs on, it is easily confusing and some web sites could be overlooked when checking others. And for those sites that don't get updated regularly, it's a waste of time to check them. RSS feeds took those hassles away by sending updated content to various feed readers or to people's email inbox. This way, if someone has several web sites they're interested in, the information is sent to them directly, rather than having to hunt it down themselves.

Web site content that uses RSS include blogs, news headlines, video and audio clips. In order to view an RSS feed the user will need a feed reader. Such readers include MyYahoo, Google Reader, an Bloglines. Some computer programs such as Windows, Windows Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird include feed readers as part of their program. If a person finds a blog or a news site that the want to keep up to date on, they need to locate how to subscribe to the feed. This can be found two ways, either on the site itself, or in the web browser. To subscribe on the site, web page designers add small icons usually on the front page that has several icons distinguishing different feed readers. These are links to click in order to sign up to receive updates. These links have various names, XML, RSS, and ATOM are a few. Find the icon for the RSS reader you use and click on it.

Sometimes the feed will be added directly to the reader, other times the user needs to confirm the request. Once this is done, updates will start being delivered. Subscribing to a feed through web browsers such as Firefox and Safari, is an option as well. Where you type in a web address, there's an RSS icon on the right side of the URL box. When that icon is first clicked, that will bring the person to a page that has them select the feed reader of their choice.

If the person finds another site he wants to subscribe to, that icon will automatically sign up on the chosen reader. It is also possible to have feeds sent directly to your email. This isn't always an option, but sometimes under the feed reader icons there's a subscribe box where you can send in your email address and have updates sent to your inbox. To prevent updates being sent to the spam or bulk folder in your email program, it's best to add the site's email address to your address book. This way, updates won't be missed. There are so many ways to keep up to date on current news and events from the computer. It's much more convenient to have information sent to you directly rather than having to hunt it down