# RSS Feeds - What Are They Good For **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897 "2007-01-14T02:34:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/1 "2007-01-14T02:34:15Z")
I didn’t want to hijack this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=403873), so I thought it best to ask the question here: According to Wikipedia, > [@](#): > > RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts. > > Users of RSS content use programs called feed ‘readers’ or ‘aggregators’: the user ‘subscribes’ to a feed by supplying to their reader a link to the feed; the reader can then check the user’s subscribed feeds to see if any of those feeds have new content since the last time it checked, and if so, retrieve that content and present it to the user. OK, but what does it look like or how does it work? Do I get an email with new info, or a separate webpage with new info on it? How does it look and/or how does it work? Also, any security risks to subscribing to an RSS feed? ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/2 "2007-01-14T02:36:01Z")
Dang! I need that new edit function… That should be **RSS Feeds - What Are They Good For?** ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/3 "2007-01-14T02:40:00Z")
You can get a standalone reader [like this that you can use to view subscribed feeds.](http://www.rssreader.com/images/rssreaderscreenshot.gif) That type looks a lot like e-mail. People that run a website can embed an RSS feed into a page so that it updates with information from that feed. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/4 "2007-01-14T02:51:27Z")
I use [Google Reader](http://reader.google.com). You tell it what feeds you want to watch, and then when you log in it shows you which of those feeds have been updated, with links to them. If you have a Gmail account, you’ve got a Google Reader account (and if you don’t, you can get one for free). ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/5 "2007-01-14T05:31:49Z")
I use RSS feeds right in Firefox for news sites like CNN and CBC. You bookmark the RSS feed (via the orange icon that shows up in the address bar) and then when you hover over the bookmark, it displays the feed. So instead of just going to CNN’s website, you get a list of the current top stories and you can just click on the ones you want to read. I haven’t found RSS to be much more useful than that so far. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/6 "2007-01-14T07:00:14Z")
[QUOTE=DWMarch] I haven’t found RSS to be much more useful than that so far. [/QUOTE] That’s a good point; I guess for people who read lots and lots of news/blogs, it might be useful, but I usually just end up making the rounds and visiting all of my sites. There are some nice uses, though; for instance, [nytimes.com](http://nytimes.com) has a page for each individual NFL team ([here](http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/profootball/nationalfootballleague/atlantafalcons/index.html) is the one for my team, the Falcons); those pages have RSS feeds, so I can get any new Falcons-related developments pretty quickly that way. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/7 "2007-01-14T07:12:49Z")
To me, it seems like streaming stock quotes or sports scores you get while watching the news. If that appeals to you fine. But I usually don’t like the web streamed at me, so I don’t use it. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/8 "2007-01-14T08:49:48Z")
Absolutely nuthin’ - _UH_! Oops, misread the title and got carried away. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/9 "2007-01-14T19:24:13Z")
**Rigamarole** All right!! I knew _somebody_ was going to post that eventually. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/10 "2007-01-14T19:34:36Z")
I use Bloglines to keep track of all my friends’ blogs. If someone updates, it shows up and I can read the post. I’ve got talkative friends! ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/11 "2007-01-14T22:31:36Z")
If the blog is updated less than once a day, the RSS reader will let you when the updates occur and save you visiting the blog when it hasn’t been changed. When you monitor a lot of blogs like this, the RSS reader really comes into its own If the blog is updated more than once a day, the RSS reader will alert you to changes shortly after they happen. If the blog is updated once a day or more but you only visit it once a day, you really don’t need its RSS feed. You could just continue your daily visits. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/12 "2007-01-14T22:44:21Z")
I suggest this slate article: [How to speed-read the Net.](http://www.slate.com/id/2096660) ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rss-feeds-what-are-they-good-for/387897/13 "2007-01-14T23:15:05Z")
[QUOTE=alterego] I suggest this slate article: [How to speed-read the Net.](http://www.slate.com/id/2096660) [/QUOTE] Good article, **alterego**. Very good explanation - thanks.