RSS: Dead, Dying, or Thriving?

RSS stands for Rich Site Summary (though it is often referred to as Really Simple Syndication).

Simply put, an RSS feed lets a content publisher syndicate their content. Newspapers often have RSS feeds for each section of the paper (example: NY Times Feeds). Blogs usually have RSS feeds for new blog posts (example: TechCrunch Feeds).

Using an RSS Reader, you can bring all the RSS feeds that you like to follow together into one platform. It's kind of like building a custom newspaper that has the perfect blend of interests for you.

RSS Readers and Apps

Video: RSS in Plain English (by CommonCraft - view the video on their site)

For reading via RSS, I recommend trying out one of the three apps below:

Feedly (which has accumulated 3 million new users in the last month)
TheOldReader
Netvibes

Google Reader (born October 7, 2005) is/was a popular web-based RSS Reader that can be accessed through your existing Google Account. Various phone apps attempt to work with Google Reader, but none pull it off with much elegance. Google is killing Google Reader on July 1, 2013 much to the dismay of its users.

Other Useful RSS Tools

Chrome RSS Subscription Extension automatically detects if a site has RSS and gives you a button to press in the search bar if you'd like to subscribe (for Chrome only).
YouTube Pipes helps you to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web.

Is RSS Dead?

Read some of the articles below and see if you can figure out whether or not RSS is dead or dying.

Fear Not, Digg is building a Google Reader Alternative, by Emily Price, Mashable, March 14, 2013.
R.I.P Google Reader, by Christina Warren, Mashable, March 13, 2013.
No, RSS Is Not Dead, and Neither Are RSS Readers, GigaOM, Mathew Ingram, Sept 13, 2010.
Saying "RSS Is Dead" Is Dead, Saying "RSS Is Not Dead" Is Not — Today. TechCrunch, Sept 13, 2010.
Sure, RSS Is Dead — Just Like the Web Is Dead. GigaOM, Mathew Ingram, Jan 4, 2011.
The FeedBurner Deathwatch Continues: Google Kills AdSense For Feeds. TechCrunch, Sept 28, 2012
Don’t Tell Mediafed That RSS Is Dead. TechCrunch, Nov 18, 2012.
Google's Lost Social Network: Google Reader, BuzzFeed, December 2012.