RSS stands for really simple syndication.

Put simply, an 'RSS feed' means that you 'subscribe' to a website or podcast, much in the same way you subscribe to a newspaper or magazine.

News pages, podcasts and blogs are regularly updated, and you probably have favourite ones which you check from time to time to see if there is anything new.

RSS means that if a page has new content, if lets you know, rather than you having to go and check.

This is great, because you only need to check one page to see if there is anything new on any of your favourite websites.

How to subscribe

In general, you need to have a 'news reader', which is a bit of software that checks the RSS feeds for you. Anything new will pop up in this software, or in your web browser so you can read it.

Check the BBC News site for more information about news readers.

Many web browsers have built in readers, check with your browser's homepage. For example, go to the Firefox homepage to find out about using RSS with Firefox.

Internet Explorer users can check here for information about getting RSS in IE.

What are you interested in?

RSS is available where you see the orange logo

Using the BBC News search box, you can select subjects you are interested in. This means if there is a new story about a certain country, or person, you will be notified automatically.

Check the BBC News site for more information about subscribing to news feeds.

Read through the related questions below to find out more.