RSS feeds: what are they?

Since none of you are brave enough, I’ll be the one to admit it: I have no idea what an RSS feed is. Or was.

RSS feed is a term for something that I know exists online. It’s been around for decades. It’s a legacy part of the internet and something to do with blogs. Beyond that, I know nothing. What the hell is an RSS feed?

I’m purposely not going to look anything up while writing this, but I’ll guess based on context that it has something to do with organizing blogs you subscribe to so you can read them all in one place. I may have read this somewhere years ago, but I barely remember. I don’t know who provides the service, how it works, or how it looks.

Now I don’t even know if my definition is right, but if it is, why are RSS feeds never talked about? Ever? They seem like they might actually be useful. Blogs are still very popular, even if they’ve changed or evolved over time. Yet, I have never once heard anybody my age refer to an RSS feed in any context, for any reason. I doubt most people my age have even heard of them and could probably not guess correctly if their lives depended on it.

Maybe they’re obsolete this decade? Even so, other classic internet properties like MySpace, Hotmail, and AOL keywords are discussed every now and then. There’s at least some nostalgia for nearly every bygone internet tool. But I’ve never heard any discussion about an RSS feed, even by avid blog readers.

What the HELL are they?? I SPEND EVERY WAKING MOMENT OF MY LIFE ONLINE! ✍︎