What is a feed?

A feed is a special website url you can use to get the latest updates for that website. With feeds you can get real-time updates for Youtube channels, Twitch streams, Acast podcasts, blog posts, and website articles from one place. All you need to do is subscribe to that feed with a feed reader.

Feeds give you control. You won't see ads, miscellaneous spam, or content curated by some mysterious algorithm. You'll only see the content you signed up for. If you no longer want to get updates for a feed, you simply unsubscribe from the feed.

Feeds sometimes go by different names across the internet, such as "RSS feeds", "Atom feeds", or "website feeds", but they all mean the same thing. Feeds are usually represented by this icon:

A lot of websites support feeds. Subscribing to one or two feeds won't feel beneficial, but once you're subscribed to 10, 20, or 50 feeds, you'll begin to see how useful it is to keep all these updates in one place.

How do I subscribe to a feed? ¶

To subscribe to a feed, you'll need a feed reader. A feed reader (aka "aggregator", "news reader", or "RSS reader") keeps track of all your feed urls and organizes all your feed updates. Here are a few common feed readers:

All feed readers work in similar fashions so it doesn't matter which one you choose. Just pick the one you like the look of. You can always export and import your feeds later. All you need to do is get a feed url and paste it into your feed reader to subscribe!

Where do I find feeds? ¶

Try peeking around a website's header or footer to find the feed icon. If you can't find one, most feed readers are smart enough to figure out the feed url for you.

If you're still having trouble, here are a few feed examples:

You can also subscribe to my personal feed or look at my blogroll.