Feed Readers: How Well Do They Work for You?
October 7th 2007 23:40
Do You Suffer from Feed-Reader Overload?
I'm wondering how many of my readers subscribe to RSS feeds and how well that actually works out for you (i.e., are you able to keep up with your feed reading or does the number of posts waiting to be read simply keep building and building until you wonder whether some terrible computer disaster might be imminent due to feed-reader overload)?
Personally, I find that the busier I get--and I've been quite busy of late--the less time I have to read my feeds (which I do feel bad about, because the blogs whose feeds I've subscribed to have lots of fantastic info that I definitely want to keep up with). Unfortunately, it appears that, with feed readers, as with anything else, good intentions aren't enough. As I watch the number of posts in my reader climb at an alarming rate, I begin to feel overwhelmed and wonder why I ever got myself into this position in the first place.
Reading Feeds vs. Visiting Blogs
What ever happened to the good "old-fashioned" practice of simply visiting the blogs we like to read--which we must ultimately do anyway should we decide we'd like to read, respond to, or leave our own original comments. Perhaps I'm less tech savvy than I should be; or perhaps it's simply that once you let the posts in your feed reader build up, you tend to procrastinate further because the job of reading, sorting, or even scanning just seems too formidable to tackle; or, it could just be that you should never sign up for RSS feeds in the first place unless you're prepared to keep up with your feed reading on a more-or-less daily basis.
One of the reasons I originally decided to try RSS feeds was to keep track of all the blogs I wanted to read regularly--rather than using bookmarks, because frankly I've got too many of those, too. I thought it would be easier to have these blogs all in one place--and in one way, it is. But, I must admit that I often find myself not even wanting to go to my feed reader, because there's so much there waiting to be read that I hardly know where to begin!
RSS Feed Management: There's Got to Be a Trick to It!
RSS feed management is proving to be a difficult proposition--at least to this feed reader. Perhaps there are some tricks/techniques I'm unaware of. (Let me reword that: No doubt there are some tricks/techniques I'm unaware of.) Nevertheless, the more full my writing schedule becomes, the less time I have for reading/commenting on other blogs--though I truly want to find an efficient way to fit this into my schedule because building and maintaining good relationships with other bloggers is very important to me. Theoretically, at least, a feed reader should make it easier for me to keep up on the latest happenings at my favorite blogs.
Perhaps I simply need to begin thinking of my feed reader as my servant rather than my master. It's there for my convenience--to make life easier for me--and not to command my loyalty or make me feel guilty every time I neglect to do its "bidding".
What experiences have you had with your feed reader? Have you mastered RSS feed management? Have any tricks or techniques that might make feed management easier for the rest of us? Any words of encouragement or commiseration with those of us who are drowning in RSS feed content?
Awaiting your feedback,
Jeanne
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Comment by StormySleep
Lori
Comment by Lillie Ammann
In general, I go to the blog itself only if I want to make a comment. Usually, I do not go to blogs to read the rest of the post if the blog offers only partial reads. Your blog is one of two exceptions to that rule. I always come to your blog, even though I wish it didn't take so much time (relative to reading the feed, that is) because your content is always worth reading. If I realize I'm clicking away without reading posts most of the time on a blog, I delete it from my feeds. Currently, I subscribe to about 200 blogs, but many of them don't post often.
It takes me less time to go through my feeds and read the posts I really want to every day than it would take me to go to the individual blogs that I really want to read - wasting time if there are no new posts or if the post doesn't interest me.
I can't imagine not using feeds, but I haven't found Google Reader or any of the other readers that allow you to categorize blogs, etc. as useful as simply an alphabetical list showing what's been updated.
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Yours sounds like a great technique for making sure you get to read the blogs you're most interested in, even if you don't have time to read all the blogs you're subscribed to. That does seem effective, because, that way, you're always free to return to the other blogs when you have the time--and you don't risk losing track of them, as you might if they weren't in your feed reader.
Thanks for sharing your trick with us!
Jeanne
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Thanks so much for your input on this issue! I'm pretty new to feeds, so it's really helpful to get this info. Like Stormy, I'm using Google Reader, though, unlike Stormy, I haven't used categories. I simply choose the blog I want to check from the alphabetical list of blogs and look for newer posts that interest me.
Unfortunately, unlike you, I don't do it every day. In fact, at times I'm so busy I let several days go by before checking my feeds, and then when I see how many posts are in them, I feel defeated before I even begin reading--particularly if I don't have much time for reading right then! It feels as if I'll never get through them! This weekend, I went out of town to a Women of Faith conference, giving my already long list of posts more time to grow even longer.
Guess I'll just have to keep working at it! I suppose I'll get the hang of it sometime!
Thanks again!
Jeanne
Comment by Joanna Young
I've been using a feed reader for a few months now. I started with great news and have just moved to bloglines. I like bloglines because I can make my feeds public (so I don't have to keep updating a blog roll) and I can also clip things I want to go back to. This is helping me a lot - it's a way of flagging something that I want to go back and read, or to comment on (or go back and review comments) or to use in a future post. When they're done you just delete the clippings.
Reading with a purpose in mind is key. Mostly I'm scanning for things that are of interest, that I can use, or for conversations I want to take part in. I have a list of 10 blogs that I visit away from the feed - so I will spend more time there, comment regularly and go back and read other people's comments. 10 seems to be a good number for this - more and it gets unmanageable.
I'm currently following about 100 feeds. It works okay if you can keep on top of them daily. I know that feeling of looking at them stacked up though - and when that's happened before I just let go of them in the end, decided I'd just have to miss those pearls of wisdom and start again from the day you're at. Otherwise you'll never catch up and you'll stop enjoying the reading.
That's what's worked for me anyway. I should add though that I keep on changing my habits to try and find what works best. I don't think there is a right answer - just what works best for you.
Joanna
Comment by Brad Shorr
Comment by Sharon Hurley Hall
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
I appreciate your sharing what has worked for you! I will definitely consider all the great info and advice you and others have given me, experiment with it, and distill it into a system that works for me (as you've suggested, Joanna).
My problem is that I have so many writing, editing, and reading projects going right now that I don't really feel I can take the time to go through my feeds daily. When I do, I always feel as if I should be doing something else! I guess I'm overcommitted! Because of that, I suppose I'm starting off on the wrong foot with RSS feeds. (And, of course, so many posts have already built up in my feed reader that I'm already way behind--which makes it even harder!)
Thanks for all your advice about labels! I haven't used labels yet. (There's still a great deal that I don't know how to do at this point, because I haven't really managed to find the time to look into the finer details of using a feed reader.)
About partial feeds, Brad (and everyone): I do feel bad that my blog only offers a partial feed, but this is all that's offered by Orble at this time. I've written them about it, asking that they begin to offer a full feed, but so far they haven't decided to make the change.
I think the idea of a "writing blogs" label is a good one, Sharon; and I agree with you (and Stormy) that a "must-read" label is important too, because the number of excellent writing blogs out there is so great that even that could become too unwieldy to handle when you're in a hurry.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your own personal RSS tips and tricks with me, Joanna, Brad, and Sharon! I feel very fortunate to have such great advisors!
Appreciatively yours,
Jeanne
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Melissa R. Garrett
I also try to click over to the blog so that my visit can be counted on the blog stats.
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
I, too, like to put links to my favorite blogs in my sidebar, though there are also many other blogs that I don't want to lose track of (which is very easy to do with the number of blogs on the internet). That's where a feed reader comes in handy--provided I keep on top of my reading!
It's great to have all the posts from all the blogs I like to read in one place. The only downside I see is either getting too far behind on your reading or forgetting that reading posts in your feed reader is not the equivalent of visiting a blog, and though you may have read every post on one of your favorite blogs, the blogger won't know it unless you visit and leave a comment.
Thanks for your input!
Jeanne
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Thanks for your feed reader tips! You've made an excellent point about visiting a blog so your visit will show up in the blog's stats. Often we don't think of these things. Commenting is important, too, and it's easy to overlook this in a feed reader.
Thanks for clicking over and leaving those words of wisdom!
Jeanne
Comment by Yvonne Russell
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Thanks for your support!
Jeanne