I get asked a lot from my students, what is RSS, what are feeds. My answer normally is: RSS stands for (Real Simple Stupid) ofcaurse that’s to make them laugh only.

RSS stands for, and that’s the real meaning: (Really Simple Syndication) it also have different names like: RSS document, feed, web feed, or channel.

And it’s alive, or at least I hope so. And we will go through that in part 2 of this article.

As per Wikipedia here is what RSS means:

“RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. It contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that’s easier than checking them manually.

RSS content can be read using software called an “RSS reader,” “feed reader” or an “aggregator.” (Wait for part 2 of this article) The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed’s link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.”

There is a universal logo for RSS feeds that you can see it as a small orange box with the letters RSS inside. Also there is another universal icon (very similar to the one you see on this site top right corner).

In a nutshell, a “feed” is a summary of Web content that is updated on a regular basis. It is a way for users to keep informed of a Web site’s latest changes. The feed format that’s most popular now is Really Simple Syndication (RSS) 2.0 .

Coming up soon: In parts 2,3 and 4 of this article, you will learn of what RSS readers are and how to use them, then how to market your business using RSS technology.