This is going to sound really dumb but Ive never used them and just dont understand exactly what they are.

I am a developer but Ive always just stuck to using bookmarks and reading things when I remember. Are they just a way of informing you when theres new content on a website? In a way similar to a podcast and how that updates itself?

It basically adds a bookmark to the base of the site, and then u click it and it drops down with different stories (if its a news site which is what i mainly use rss for)
hope that makes sense