Newsfeeds Explained

What is an RSS Feed?

RSS, which stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication,’ is a method by which you can easily organize the online content you enjoy reading. Rather than visit multiple favorite Web sites to see what’s new, the Web sites bring their newest content directly to you, and these ‘feeds’ update automatically. In order to do this, you must sign up for an RSS aggregator, and there tons of free and easy-to-use options. Here are a few you might want to try:

iGoogle * My Yahoo! * My MSN * Bloglines * FeedDemon * Pluck * Sage 

The RSS aggregator (also sometimes called a ‘news reader’) helps you keep all your RSS feeds in one place, and you can customize how many headlines you’d like to see, how much of the text you want, plus other features that vary from one aggregator to another. A few web browsers have built-in news readers, as well. Each program has its own method for helping you add the RSS feeds you want. To subscribe to any of the Utne Reader feeds, you can also simply click the graphic “Subscribe” buttons next to our feed names. To find out if a Web site has an RSS feed, look for the orange and icons on the page or in the browser’s address bar.

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