RSS feeds even now are something that people don’t really understand and utilise to their full advantage. Twitter is a great example of a site that took this sort of concept, created a searcheable platform, easy to update that users just seemed to just get, possibly helped by the status update function of facebook. So, how does RSS work and how can you make best use of them?
As a user they are a stream of information that you can subscribe to, the provider then adds to their stream on a regular basis but rather than you having to check back from time to time to see if their is new content, you asign a desktop program or website to do that for you. Each time you load that software it will check the feeds address to look for update and download them for you, just like your emails. This means at a glance you can see there is new information and read it at your leisure, or not.
As a provider you should consider RSS feeds for exactly the reasons above. Your users often will not have a not in their diaries to check your we site once a week to see if you have any updates, if they are subscribed to your feed they don’t have to, but they are as up to date as they possibly could be. Also a major point to note that search engines favour sites who’s content is continually updated and RSS feeds provide a simple and efficient way to do this. Granted, many won’t be able to write the XML document that powers a feed but there are programs and integrations that will simplify this process, I’ll save that for a different post but if you are keen to get started and add an RSS feed to your web page or website but do not have any coding knowledge why not look into a blog such as WordPress or Typepad as your RSS engine. That way you have a nifty little editor that will allow you to create fancy looking stories and your subscribable RSS feed will be created as you go.
iTunes (podcasting)
My first engagement with rss feeds and XML for that matter came about while studying my Design for Digital Media degree at Chichester University. I made it a personal learning project completely understand the workings of video podcasts, not using a third party solution but using a host, writing my own XML document and uploading my videos to a website. So podcasting is another great example of RSS feeds and uses the iTunes platform as the RSS reader, each time you load your iTunes the program checks your subscriptions for updated content and downloads it, simple as that. Don’t be scared of them!
