RSS?!

Before I saw this blog topic, I knew I had seen the term “RSS” before. However, I had no idea what this acronym actually stood for and what the term was used for. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Simply put, it’s an easy way to stay in touch with information that’s meaningful to you without having to necessarily browse or search for it on websites. The content you want to know more about can be directly fed to you without having to overwhelm your inbox.

In the blog post prompt, we see that the professor mentioned that XML version can be created for your blog. I can safely say I am new to the tech space and not necessarily the best with acronyms. XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language and is the code that writes the RSS. So what exactly does a RSS reader do? Basically, it’s a small software program that can collect and display headlines from numerous news sources and place them in a central location for your viewing pleasure. Essentially, instead of visiting five different websites everyday for your news updates, you can use an RSS aggregator to combine all those headlines and place them either directly to your computer, an application, or your own website.

But wait, what is an RSS aggregator? Glad you asked! In order to actually see those headlines from your top five new sites, you need to have access to an RSS aggregator. Also called an RSS reader, this piece of technology is a program that can keep track and present all your “feeds” that you initially subscribed to. There are various types of aggregator to pick from ranging from free websites, dedicated software programs installed directly onto your computer, or even built in directly to your web browser.

We have several different blogs in our class and it can be a bit of process to check each one for updates. By using an RSS feed, (usually found along the footer of the blog) you can subscribe to their blog and receive updates directly.

Despite the convenience of RSS, they have become less popular with users. In March 2013, Google announced it was closing down its Reader service. They stated, “There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we’re pouring all of our energy into fewer products. We think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience.” Users started consuming content in a cleaner and richer way. RSS feeds and the way they currently sorted became overwhelming and muddled for some users.

So what are the limitations of RSS? Well, first RSS is not necessarily part of mainstream technology and it is still not adopted everywhere. In addition, it’s very easy to copy and replicate content so copyrights are not necessarily respected. In terms of tracking subscribers, it is very difficult to accurately track who an RSS feed. Lastly, it can be arduous to track the origin of an RSS feed piece.