Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Sites | Writers | Advertise | My Orble | Login

Writer's Notes - By Jeanne Dininni

 
WritersNotes.Net: Helping Writers Follow Their Dreams Through Information, Inspiration, and Encouragement!

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






30
Vote
   


Moderated by Jeanne Dininni
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]