If you spend a little time online you will start to notice patterns. For example, every comment thread discussion will devolve into an argument about politics, and there are these small orange and white buttons on most websites and blogs. Those buttons are the signal that “RSS,” or Really Simple Syndication, is available for you to subscribe to. But what is RSS, what are the readers, and what are RSS feed lists?

1. What are RSS feeds?

Think about how when you find an old friend on Facebook, and you add them to your group of friends, their updates start to show up on your page. RSS feeds are a little like that. They are like status updates for websites instead of people, and when you use an RSS reader, which you can think of as the tool for reading those updates, a little bit like Facebook, you subscribe to those updates and start to see whenever there is a new headline, blog post, or new content.

2. Where do I find an RSS feeds list?

In order to take advantage of RSS feeds you will first need an RSS reader, and then you will need to find RSS feeds to subscribe to on that reader. An RSS feed list can be found with an RSS search engine, or listed on the originating website. For example, if you love The Oatmeal comics, but you hate checking back every few days only to find that a new one has not been added, you will notice that the top right of the page near the Facebook and Twitter links is an “RSS” link. Look for those links or the orange and white buttons to find feeds on a website. Your other option is to use a search engine either within your reader, or independently, to search for a certain topic, like “web comics,” and find a whole list of feeds that might interest you in that genre.

3. Which feeds should I choose from an RSS feed list?

Browsing an RSS feed list can get you ideas about websites or blogs that you might like to add and follow. Ultimately, you should choose whichever feeds you would be interested in. If you usually watch Fox news, then why not subscribe to a Fox news RSS? If you want news from all over the world, then try Reuters RSS, or Yahoo news RSS feeds.

Remember, that although there are similarities between RSS feeds and Facebook, RSS is not exactly like social media, so you should feel no pressure to only subscribe to popular RSS feeds. RSS is all about making your life easier, so keep that in mind as you find a reader, subscribe to feeds, and enjoy getting new content delivered straight to you.