RSS in Plain English

RSS is basically a family of formats used to publish (not broadcast!) frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. The main advantage for users lies in the fact that they don’t have to keep up with their favorite web sites checking them manually. Instead, it is done in an automated manner so you get notified automatically once the sites are updated.

RSS content can be read using feed readers such as Bloglines or aggregators such as Netvibes. The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed’s link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser. The feed-reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds — automatically.

To get an instant idea of how it is actually done you should take a look at RSS in Plain English which explains the basics of RSS in 3.5 minutes in Plain English.

Source: www.smashingmagazine.com