Comments on: How a Feedreader Changed My Life

By: Subscribe via E-mail : Chocolate & Garlic

Subscribe via E-mail : Chocolate & Garlic — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:04:29 +0000

[...] have already discussed here how a Feedreader Changed My Life. But there are lots of people for whom using a feedreader doesn’t make sense. If you [...]

By: It Feels Like Chaos

It Feels Like Chaos — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:11:19 +0000

Hi! Thanks for the sweet comment you left on my blog. Best wishes in the disciplining of your 4 year-old. Some times it is just so tiring getting these kids to behave!!

Thanks, too, for this post on feedreader. I am new to the blogging world and also busy with 3 kids, so I might give this a try!

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:36:17 +0000

Two features in google reader to help with above comments:
1. You can now turn off the counter so you don’t feel guilty when you are behind
2. I use the keyboard letters ‘j’ and ‘k’ to move down and up in the postings for quick skimming of blog groups.

By: lis

lis — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:03:57 +0000

I love google reader. I like the suggestions, but I also like that I can share and star post I like.

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:05:03 +0000

I’ve been using the blog surfer on the dashboard on wordpress, which works pretty well, except that it only lets you access wordpress blogs. I’ll have to figure out how to do that google thing, since I’ve got several non-wordpress blogs I have to click the links on. Thanks for the info!

By: Jim F.

Jim F. — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:49:27 +0000

I used an RSS feed for a while, but then I quit. I might be wrong, but it seemed to me to cause me to take more time reading blogs than I would otherwise. But perhaps that is because I am not a consistent reader. I read a few regularly, but even then I do a lot of skimming. And I often go several days without looking at any blogs. By delivering a message to me every time new content was posted, the RSS feed “tempted” me to read blogs more than I would have otherwise.

By: Pmom

Pmom — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:49:18 +0000

RSS stands for “really simple syndication.” It is one of the standard formats in which feeds are delivered (atom is another). Why syndication? When a newspaper columnist or cartoonist is syndicated this means that his or her work is carried by many newspapers nationwide. Blogging has changed the media business. Now an individual doesn’t have to be Charles Schultz, Dave Barry, or Erma Bombeck to be syndicated. You don’t need any talent. All you need is a blog. With a blog, you publish your content to the world. You are syndicated. Your content is delivered via one of these formats like RSS or Atom.

A feedreader (or an aggregator–it aggregates the content into one place) notifies you when new content from your chosen website sources is available. The reader shows you not just the title of the item, but often the full text as well. (Some blogs choose just to send a short summary or a teaser of the post. You must then click on a link which takes you to the site to see the full text.)

Does that help?

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:08:33 +0000

Okay, so… I have no understanding of the feed-reader thing. (I’ve read many posts by many people praising it, but … I am slow and … inimical to change! (or, you know… just plain stubborn)).

This is the same thing as “RSS”, yes? or… no?
Does it just tell you where there is new stuff and what the title is, or does it actually “collect” the posts?(and if so, does that mean you just get the words– or what?)

Somehow in the past five or six years I’ve gone from being the person who always posted the screencaps and answered questions like this for newbies to my present state of total ignorance. I’m still “web 1.0″ (well… maybe not that far gone… but 1.6 at best).

By: Julie P

Julie P — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:54:53 +0000

Amen. The Google Reader is wonderful.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:10:23 +0000

I do love my Google Reader, but sometimes it makes me feel a bit claustrophobic because it shows me JUST how behind I am on my blog reading.