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Avoid Public Embarassment: Set Up an RSS Reader and Stay Informed!

Sara Palin’s ill-fated interview with Katie Couric has been beaten to death by the pundits, comics and the press. One of the most embarrassing moments for Mrs. Palin was when she was asked about what publications she read to keep up with current events. As you know, she was unable to name any. Arguably, this was a disaster for her reputation. She seemed uninformed or, worse yet, apathetic.  In her defense, it’s obvious that her handlers failed to prepare her properly for the interview. What VP candidate would have allowed an interview with the press without reviewing the questions prior to the event? 

But my point here is not to belittle Sara Palin. My point is that she could have avoided this whole situation had she simply set up a Google RSS Reader! Yes, dear friends, she would have come across as a well-educated, thoughtful and “hip” Vice Presidential candidate had she simply said: ”Why Katie, I’m glad you asked me that. I happen to have an RSS Reader in Google and I keep up with 20 publications each day. The best thing is, I don’t have to spend hours doing it!” 

So, what is an RSS Reader and how do you set one up? Let me explain. On most Internet sites you will see this icon. Please click on it to watch a short explanation of RSS Readers:

RSS or REAL SIMPLE SYNDICATION refers to an Internet formatting technology that allows you to retrieve content from your favorite on-line publications, blogs or websites and to display them in your “reader.” This way you can create a dynamic “current events” platform to read about any or all of your interests. There are a several RSS feeders out there. I’m going to show you how to set up a Google Reader. Are you ready?

1) You need to create a Gmail email account. Just go to www.google.com and set up your address.

2) Next, select the “more” drop down menu and then select “reader:”

3) You’ll then click on the “add subscription” icon……….

Which opens up the address box and asks you for the address:

4) I like to use the Seattle Times website as an example because the RSS icon is easily found at the top of the page as depicted below. Now, click on the icon which will bring you to a page that displays RSS feeds for many different categories:

In our example, I’ve selected Food & Wine as one of my favorite subjects. Of course, as a Realtor (c) I’ve selected the RSS feed for real estate articles. The beauty of this system is that you can select any Internet publications (with feeds) to provide you with up-to-date information about virtually anything.

5) To acquire the address of the Food & Wine feed, simply right-click the subject. This will bring up a window with a URL address. Copy this address and then paste it into the reader:

 

Presto! You’ve now set up a direct feed from the Seattle Times which will place all the Food & Wine articles right into your reader. This is really cool! I do have some advice: Don’t put too many feeds in. I have about 20 publications in my reader. If I don’t purge articles for a couple of days, the reader may produce 700-800 articles.

I’ve met a few people who question the value of an RSS reader claiming that they don’t have enough time in the day as it is. My answer is that using an RSS feed allows one to stay informed in an increasingly complicated world by allowing the reader to select subjects in an orgainzed, concentrated way. You spend less time looking through magazines and websites and get right to the heart of the matter. Give it a try, what have you got to lose?

Picture courtesy of roque9