RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication. In geek-talk, it’s the format used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. The RSS document (which is called an “RSS feed”) is a URL just like your typical website (http:// whatever) but for the fact that it can be decoded only by a special program – that’s called an “RSS reader”, “feed reader”, or “aggregator”, which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based.

When a website is updated, the site’s RSS feed is automatically updated as well. The RSS reader then pulls in that updated information, which allows you to read it without going to the site.

The RSS reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new content and downloads any updates.

OK, want something even easier to understand? Let’s say you get Entertainment Weekly on the newsstand, and would like to subscribe to it. You send in your little card and they send you the magazine. This is just the electronic version of that.

Want it visually?  Here, have a cool video about RSS:

One of the most popular feed readers is Google Reader, which resides online (and is free, which I like a lot). Using it is a snap – as easy as plugging in the RSS feed address in a box that says “add subscription.” Doesn’t get much easier than that. Here’s a screenshot from Google Reader (which is not mine – I got it on Google):

Photo courtesy of jrhode.