Feeds are excellent tools for managing the waves of information that the internet washes over us daily, but many people haven’t even heard of them. Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune provides a gentle introduction and detailed, step-by-step guide to setting up a feedreader account:

The rest of you, who may have heard of “feeds” but been put off by those geeky letters people throw around when talking about it and felt confused about where and how to start, welcome.

I was like you about a month ago. Then C. Max Magee, a former intern in our dot-com sweatshop, cajoled me into overcoming my reluctance, confusion and dread, and opening a free Bloglines account.

I’m so satisfied with it that, today, I’m cajoling (and gently instructing) you:

What is a “feed”?

It’s a Web product that allows you easily to see (and read, if you wish) what’s new on the Web sites and Web logs you visit most often.

Why can’t I just visit these sites myself, one by one?

You can. This way is easier. Your Bloglines home page will tell you at a glance when there’s nothing new to you on a site. It’s a very systematic way of keeping up and keeping track.

Is Bloglines the only such service or the best such service?

No and I don’t know. It works well for me and it’s free.

How do I get started?

Follow these 23 simple steps:

Click here to see the whole article, including the steps.

Yes, 23 steps sound like a lot, but these are super-detailed and carefully explained. So worth the effort. If you don’t have a Bloglines account, try it today.

And make sure to add Unexpected Marketing to your daily reading. You can get feeds to new articles or new comments to articles; feed links are in the sidebar to the right. Enjoy!

(Thanks to Lifehacker for pointing to this great how-to.)