Really Simple Syndication

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What Does Really Simple Syndication Mean?

Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is the term used to refer the collection of Web feed formats that provide updated or shared information in a standardized way. The information could be website or blog entries, news headlines, or audio or video files. RSS documents usually contain complete or summarized text, metadata, and author and publishing information.

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RSS feeds benefit both publishers and subscribers because they syndicate work automatically in a format that can be easily accessed and viewed by different applications.

Techopedia Explains Really Simple Syndication

Really Simple Syndication feeds are generally read with help of a Really Simple Syndication reader (RSS reader).These readers collect the website URLs that subscribers would like to follow. These are either stored manually by the subscriber or by clicking the RSS feed button found in most browsers or websites. In this way, the reader can check frequently for updates and download them for the subscriber.

There are some distinct advantages to using RSS. Instead of visiting the individual websites, RSS feeds can help provide users with updates and information from different sites in one convenient place. Another advantage is in ensuring the user’s privacy because unlike signing up for a website’s email, RSS does not require that the user submit contact information.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.