What are RSS and Aggregators?

The root word Aggregate means to bring together into a mass. An RSS Aggregator is a program which you can use that automatically retrieves new posts from blogs, or other popular sites you like which get updated frequently. RSS Aggregators can be important if you don’t want to spend a lot of time surfing for new updates. Using an RSS Aggregator makes it easier to find new posts.

Some popular web based aggregators are: Google Reader, My Yahoo, and Newsgator. To find other online RSS Aggregators you can follow this URL. http://www.newsonfeeds.com/faq/aggregators

Many sites or blogs have icons on the sides of their page usually displaying an icon that has the letters RSS. If you see this icon present you can click it and add it to your choice of aggregators, also some sites just have a link that says subscribe. If you don’t see either of these don’t worry you can still subscribe to the site, just copy the URL and manually add it to your aggregator. Here are some icons you may want to look for when subscribing.

 

Three ways you can easily find RSS feeds are to use these sites. Syndic8, Blogstreet, and NewsIsFree. With these sites enter the URL of the website you are trying to find a feed for and if there is a feed it will provide it for you.