RSS In Plain English

At a recent networking meeting, I presented to the group on the topic of RSS Feeds. This post is a follow-up to that morning, and is aimed at anyone who is still unsure, or who needs reminding just what they are missing out on. If you are a regular subscriber to the GBP Blog, then you will already have seen this post where I also brushed on the topic of news feeds.

For anyone already employing the technology, RSS is one of those tools which makes you wonder why you never used it before. For those that don't use it, check out the video by Lee LeFever, below, which explains things in simple terms. No tech talk here, no complicated instructions... just the bits you need to know - in plain english.





Ok, so all this talk of RSS is very exciting, but why should you use it? Well, if you have any interests at all - be they personal or work related - then news feeds will be like a gold mine of information that can inspire you, bail you out at the 11th hour, even give you the edge over a collegue or rival. Doesn't matter what the subject is - photography, gardening, oragami, cheese rolling (yes, there are even feeds relating to this wonderful pastime) - you will find out fresh information that will be relevant to your area of interest.

A quick word of warning: RSS feeds are addictive! They are a bit like our old friend the StumbleUpon add-on for the Firefox web browser - a wonderful resource, but also a wonderful way to see the minutes disappear seemingly without trace ("Just a couple of clicks then I'll get on with that report... Hmm... OK, just another then... Right, this really is the last one then back to work..." Sound familiar?!). But don't let that put you off - RSS is also a great way to fill those otherwise unproductive moments of your day.

To get you started, why not try subscribing to GBP Blog? All you have to do is click on the RSS link at top right, and within just a few seconds you will be set up to receive all the latest posts, real time, as they go live.