Web Feeds - What Is RSS and Atom?

Content syndication is a relatively new method of delivering articles and other media to Internet subscribers. It’s an alternative to email, and uses a different methodology. The actual stream of content is sometimes referred to as a web feed. Some people also call this RSS or Atom, however this is technically incorrect.

RSS and Atom are two of three file formats used for web feeds/ content syndication. The third format, which is not as used as much, is RDF. RDF is actually an older version of RSS, whose development was abandoned.

Many proponents of RSS sometimes refer to RSS generically but are actually referring to any of the content syndication formats. I am such an RSS evangelist, although more often these days, I try to use the term web feeds. Web feeds are a superior technology for information delivery than email for several reasons. Some websites have found that their daily website pageviews have increased by 133% or more since offering web feeds.

If you want to learn more, you can read my 4-part into to web feeds on the CIS archive pages. If you already know something about web feeds and would like to learn more about the use and promotion of them for your online business, please see either of the two weblogs:

1. RSS Diary - by RSS/web feeds evangelist and guru Rok Hrastnik, author of several highly-acclaimed position papers about RSS, some available for free.
2. RSS Cases - written by me. My journal both overlaps and supplements Rok’s. I occasionally offer case studies into the use of RSS at three levels: end-user, marketing, development.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to drop off a comment.

(c) Copyright 2006-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/

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