Are you tired of missing out on your favorite blogs or news sites? It's time you got started with RSS, or Really Simple Syndication. You've heard the buzzword over and have probably seen this icon below, but now it's time to use RSS to manage your daily content better.
What can RSS do for you?
- Consolidate and organize content from various sources into one single location.
- Have feed content updated on the fly.
- Read headlines and scan information faster.
- Drill down to only relevant or important information you choose to.
The best way to get started with RSS is to choose an aggregator whose interface works well for you and that works well with your daily routine. You can now add RSS feeds into some mail programs such as Microsoft Outlook 2007 or Mail on the Mac. But I wouldn't recommend this if you are monitoring more than 5 blogs or web sites.
Google Reader
Google Reader has been gaining popularity for its ease of use and reading just like it's email interface. One of the fun aspects of Google Reader is it's ability to share your favorite blog posts easily with your friends.
Bloglines
Bloglines also has the same two panel interface as Google reader with abilities to save articles and an easy bookmarklet to single-click a subscription from any browser. Bloglines also has a mobile version, giving you the ability to view your RSS feeds on your handheld computer or cell phone.
NetNewsWire for Mac or FeedDemon for PC
One of the best of the stand-alone RSS reader applications out there. I personally have been using NetNewsWire for the last 3 years and so far it is the most powerful RSS application that fits my daily needs, managing the 1,000 or so feeds that I check on daily or periodically. Both are now free downloads and can be synced through an online account so that you can have it sync on multiple computers, for instance home or work. These kinds of stand-alone applications are great for reading your blogs offline. Perfect for the train or subway ride home from work.
Here are a few final tips to remember when you start with RSS:
Resist the urge to subscribe to every RSS feed you stumble across. As you start using your RSS reader, delete feeds that you don't read that often to keep your overall reader manageable. Finally, if you are using a browser-based RSS reader, make it your browser's default home page so you'll be able to scan new headlines more regularly.
