The term “surfing the web” is totally outdated, dude. But the way most of us get our information off the Internet hasn’t really changed much since we all jumped on the information superhighway. We still “surf” from one website to another to find the things we want to watch and read, checking back again and again to see if they have new content, which is a huge time-suck.
If you've ever dreamed of getting all your favorite web content delivered to you, you're going to love RSS readers. RSS simply means a "feed" of your favorite website's frequently updated content.
Watch this week's Twirl, grab a fancy cocktail and relax— all your favorite web content will come to you for a change.
14 Comments
Janelle Lin says:
Carley, I love your site! Is there an RSS reader that you recommend for the iPhone?
CKnobloch says:
Janelle-- I use feedler, which is tied to my google reader account. Works really well.
Rich says:
Great post, Carly! One correction though. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (although I did like your intepretation too!). FYI, I'm a computer programmer by profession. Cheers!
CKnobloch says:
Rich-- I did a bunch of research and it seems that both are accepted as definitions. I definitely know your definition is correct too. Thabks for pointing it out.
Edie says:
Checked out the Google reader as you suggested (found some great websites). Pls tell me whats the difference between subscribing to an RSS feed and receiving an email notification from a site, such as Digittwirl, about something new/improved?
CKnobloch says:
Edie-- there are actually two kinds of emails you can get from a website. One would be if you subscribe to an RSS feed via email, which would just drop every new post into your inbox as soon as its published... And nothing more. Subscribing to an email list, likeDigitwirl's, allows me to tell you about all kinds of things, like contests, or just to send a personal message, or even tell you about old posts or multiple posts at time. Basically, i can tell you whatever i want. Subscribing to an RSS in a reader is the same as the first option-- just posts only, no other information comes though. Hope that makes sense.
Brenda says:
Thanks Digitwirl. What are your thoughts on sign up for your favorite blogs via e-mail?
CKnobloch says:
Brenda-- That works, but over time your inbox gets cluttered up. With RSS the content waits for you, and is all in one place.
Katie S. says:
Thanks for the great post Carly! I can't believe how many people I know use their hundreds of bookmarks to check on blogs, news, etc. when this is so much easier of an option. I've passed the link on to a handful of people!
digitwirl … all about making the tech work for you! says:
[...] Quit surfing the web [...]
Lorean says:
I love watching your videos. I was going to subscribe to your RSS feed but I got this error, "This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below." What does that mean and what should I do?
CKnobloch says:
Lorean-- well THAT sure is embarrassing! Looking into it.
Krystal says:
Hi Carly,
I downloaded the rss app that your recommended when you first posted this and I love it. Except I cannot figure out how to have my iphone sync with my online account. ie when I subscribe to a new feed on my computer, it doesn't automatically add it to my list on my phone. Any tips? Thanks!
Kathy says:
I have loved my Google Reader to keep up with all the blogs that I subscribe to. Now that Google has announced that Google Reader will be retired July, 2013 what reader do you recommend now. thanks,