Engaged Learning

RSS – Day 1 – An Introduction

Nov 16, 2009 Social Media & Network Challenge

Week 2: RSS: Day 1

Last week we learned about Blogs, set one up and posted.  We even looked at a number of others’ blogs.  But there are two sides to this beast – the writing and the reading.

WARNING: Once you learn about RSS and try it, you won’t be able to turn back.  This is one of those technologies that once tried, everyone wonders how they ever lived without it.

RSS logo

Let’s say you found ten blogs you loved.  But to read each of them you have to go out every day and see if there is an update.  Maybe five of them have posted, but you have just wasted time looking for something that wasn’t there with the other five.  Part of what makes Web 2.0 so great is that everything you need to do is easy (or at least is aimed to be easy).  That is why it has taken off.

Reading should be the same way.  And, yes, even though you are still reading a web page, there is an easier way to read.  It is not the actual reading, but how the reading is delivered to you.

ENTER RSS

RSS is a ‘backronym.’  The TLA was created before what it meant.  It now stands, most commonly, for “Really Simple Syndication.”  Here is the gist: You find information you like.  You subscribe, or opt-in, to receive update.  When there is anything new or updated, you are sent an alert.  Done.  So what does this look like?

Instead of you trying to find if information has been updated, the updates come to you through an ‘RSS Reader.’  Ahhhhh.  How easy is that?!

Let’s turn back to our good friends at Common Craft to tell us how this works…

RSS Advantages:

• Pushed to you
• Only what has been updated
• Information > time spent
• Constant
• Searchable
• Archived
• Personalized content
• Automatic
• Learning increases

TO DO – Create a RSS Reader account (Difficulty Level: EASY – Time: 5 minutes)

There are a number of RSS readers.  Some are free online services.  Others are programs you can download to your computer.  Here is a list of some of the most popular.  We will talk about the differences later.  For now, however, we are going to look at one of the most popular ones, Google Reader.  If you want to try a different one, feel free.

1. Go to http://google.com/reader and sign up for an account.  If you already have another Google account (like Gmail), it will be extra easy to sign up.
2. That’s it!
3. If you want bonus points, click the RSS logo on this site (the orange box looking thing), which is located near the top right of this blog.  You will be asked which service to use.  Choose Google Reader (or the reader you chose).
4. That’s it!  See, I told you it would be easy.

Tags: RSS, social media challenge