2021-10-08
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It refers to files easily read by a computer, called XML files, that automatically update information. A link to a website is created using this tech and that very link is identified by an RSS reader software which then fetches the information from that particular linked site and shows it to the user. RSS was created by Dan Libby and Ramanathan V. Guha in 1999 with a motive of making it easier to subscribe to web feeds. Checking each site one by one will take forever. Signing up for their newsletters could ensure you keep up with the latest updates and information, but it's also easy to mistake the emails as spam or to ignore them altogether in your crowded inbox. Then again, relying solely on the site's social media updates might mean you miss something important you wanted to know about.
In simple terms, RSS helps you create your own e-magazine where you get only the information you want to get from the sites you've chosen. Not only can you subscribe to your favourite websites, but you also can subscribe to blogs and podcasts if the RSS reader supports it. RSS readers can fetch text information, audio, images and even video files, so you won't lose any information you want to get in any form. Even though it can fetch every kind of file all you get in an RSS reader is the title, a short description, some pictures or a video, and the link to the original website (Usually* because RSS cannot fetch the ads present on the site which hampers the monetization of those sites since no ads = no income.).
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RSS is a very old but useful tech. With it being one of the go-to methods of creating feeds, RSS has been implemented in various fields and can fetch different data from different sources. I am personally using RSS to keep track of what my friends are doing on Instagram and Twitter, as well as subscribing to websites as well as YouTube channels I like. These social media don't have RSS integrated with them, but frontends like Bibliogram(Instagram) and Nitter(Twitter) allow you to subscribe to the publicly available profiles with RSS. RSS is a must-have thing if you go to websites frequently to get information.