Thing #8 - RSS

Before I started using an aggregator service, I used to spend a lot of time trying to remember all the websites and blogs I liked to read. I had a huge list of bookmarked sites and I'd spend a lot of time visiting sites that hadn't been updated since my last visit. When I started seeing that little orange square with the radiating white lines and started reading about RSS and aggregators, I jumped in and signed up on Bloglines. How convenient to have all my sites updated, in one place, just waiting for me to read! My "sites I read list" kept getting longer and longer, but it wasn't a problem to keep up with them. I even suggested the aggregator to co-workers.

After a while, though, Bloglines started having these weird hiccups, where it wouldn't update feeds for a few days, then all the posts would come thru at once. That wasn't too bad with moderate posters, but with a site like kottke.org, I'd be overwhelmed with the backlog of posts! I had heard about Google's Reader, but when I tried it out, I didn't like it as much as Bloglines. I already used Gmail and Google Docs, and mostly turned to Google for general searching. I didn't like how central Google was becoming to my online activities. If Bloglines hadn't had so many problems, I would never have switched.

Thankfully, after a couple of weeks of using Reader, I really started to like it! I like how my Gmail address book is integrated, it makes it super easy to send finds like this to friends:


The other cool thing about Reader is the Share/Share with note function. Instead of emailing your friends the funny link, you can "share" it. It's mostly functional for your friends who also use Reader (helps spread the love), but it also creates a webpage with your shared posts. The Discover feature is good, too. It looks at the blogs you read and suggests others on the same topic. I've found it's sort of hit or miss, but, I think most blogs are like that too.