You’ve probably already seen blogs with this logo (or a variation of it) on them:
This symbol represents an “RSS Feed”.
RSS means “Really Simple Syndication”
In other words, this feed is a way to “push out” the content from the site once it is updated or new content is published. As a publisher of content to the web, it is an easier way to keep people connected to your site and content. They can simple “subscribe” to your “feed” and your newly published content (posts, pages, etc) are sent to them to read.
The primary difference here is that instead of having to visit your site to see what is new, people can simply open the tool they use to subscribe to your posts with (called an “RSS Reader”) to see what is new on your page or any other site to which they subscribe.
RSS feeds save people tons of time!
People no longer have to visit every site to see what – if anything – is new.
Read this article or watch this brief video to get a better idea of what an RSS Feed is.
How do people *find* the blogs that work are relevant to them anyway?
There are online blog “directories” where people can search for blogs. Many of these directories invite blog writers to submit their blog to be included in the directory (usually at no cost) and some directories are actual sponsors or groups that help promote a specific type of blog. (An example: “Food Buzz” which helps promote a wide variety of food or cooking blogs.) Here are a couple of these directories:
You can also easily search google for blogs as well. Just type the topic you are seeking and select “Blogs” from the Google search options. Google will return a list of blogs to you based upon your search (as seen in this image at the top) AND it will also give you links to specific blog posts about your topic (below the blog titles in the image).
Beyond searching on Google or through directories aimlessly, you can also locate blogs through Technorati’s Blog Search Feature. Technorati actually awards blogs “authority” based upon how many other blogs link or refer to them. This may give you an idea of the credibility of a blog – or at least so much as how that is awarded throughout the blogging community.
You can also search through your Google Reader. This is what we will explore as a group today.
