A little information concerning RSS feeds.  Firstly, if you don’t know about RSS feeds, it’s basically a tool most internet junkies use to stay updated on changes and updates to websites/blogs and news organizations on the web. 

To make a long story short:  Instead of having to physically go and check each website for updates, the RSS feed aggregator will do it for you.  All it takes, is downloading an aggregator from Mozilla or Firefox and your on your way!  These programs are free and very useful if you like to keep updated on news and blog updates.  Go to Wikipedia, and there is a good explaination of RSS feeds and downloads on getting your aggregator. 

Recently, Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 has attempted to add this feature to their web browser.  However, you have to physically go in a ‘refresh’ each time you want to check for updates.  That can be a pain if you have 100’s of RSS feeds.  So, I recommend getting an aggregator.  I use Mozilla, which I have found very convenient. 

Most sites now have RSS feeds.  If you click on the little RSS icon (,  or ) , you will see the address to the RSS feed in your browser address window.  This will be the address you want to add to your aggregator list. 

Wikipedia has listed some benefits of web feeds.  Those include:

  • Users can be notified of new content without having to actively check for it.
  • The information presented to users in an aggregator is typically much simpler than most websites. This spares users the mental effort of navigating complex web pages, each with its own layout.
  • Media files can be automatically downloaded without user intervention.

Web feeds also have some advantages compared to receiving frequently published content via email:

  • When subscribing to a feed, the user does not disclose their email address, so the user is not increasing their exposure to threats associated with email: spam, viruses, phishing, and identity theft.
  • If the user wants to stop receiving news, they do not have to send an ‘unsubscribe’ request; the user can simply remove the feed from their aggregator.

RSS Feeds are the wave of the internet future and will likely be included in all websites and programs on the web.  RSS Feeds have now been added to all PICOMM publications including The Foot Blog, Podiatry Internet Journal and the PICOMM site.