What is RSS?

Last Update: 1/6/26

RSS is how I consume 80% of the internet and 95% of my news.

In the simplest terms possible, RSS allows you to see everything that is published from websites you specifically want to follow. (Almost every news and "content" website has an RSS feed.) In slightly less simple terms, it involves getting a special feed from a URL, putting it in an RSS reader application/service, and getting every headline/link that is sent from that URL to your reader. Instead of going from website to website to get your news or updates, you simply bring it to you.

If this sounds familiar, it's because RSS is the same technology that powers your podcast apps when a new episode arrives. Like with your email inbox or podcast app, an RSS reader displays an "inbox" of unread headlines that, when you click them, link out to the article in question on the corresponding website.

For instance, when an article is published on The New York Times, the RSS feed for the New York Times is updated and your RSS reader of choice displays the new article. This means that if you're subscribed to the main RSS feed for The New York Times, you will receive every new article in your RSS reader. (It's worth noting that many sites like the Times, Guardian, and so on will allow you to subscribe to RSS feeds of specific sections in lieu of the entire publication.)

RSS readers have the base cost of $0. You can download an application for Mac/iOS like NetNewsWire and subscribe to as many feeds as you want locally on your device. You can also subscribe, for a small fee, to services like Feedbin or NewsBlur, which allow you to securely read RSS feeds across devices via the cloud, along with a few added features (like reading your newsletters and RSS feeds in the same place).

To use RSS feeds, you simply need to download an application or subscribe to a service, add feeds (which are as simple as typing in a domain), and scroll through headlines in your reader. If one piques your interest, you can read it. If some headlines do not interest you, you can simply mark them as read.

RSS is truly something I can talk about at length (and often do), so if you have any questions on how to start using RSS feeds, simply reach out and I'll walk you through it.

(This is an ever-evolving article on RSS. I will be adding to it over time to highlight specific apps, functions, and the like. For a more in-depth overview of RSS, see Molly White's article here.