I used to live in Google Reader but more and more I'm finding myself never opening it up anymore. I've tried using Feedly or Flipboard and it does make it better but ultimately I always end up with hundreds of unread items a day to the point where I just mark everything as read ( yes I have cleaned up my feeds numerous times). I recently tried out Caffeinated to see if I could get back into using them but again the massive amount of news was always overwhelming so I would just mark everything as read.
Going through this exercise again I remembered an article in Ars Technica about how the author felt RSS feeds were counter productive to your work day (read it here: arstechnica.com/web/news/2011/09/why-keeping-up-wi... ); it should be noted the author explains there is a time and place for RSS feeds, mainly in areas where traffic is lower or for a form of automation. When I read that article I decided to just add all the sites I followed in RSS form into twitter lists. It's been working fairly well but I do miss the RSS experience but as the article points out, it's just hard to keep up with everything.
Just curious to hear if others have gone through the same experience or if there are some who are still using RSS feeds daily for news.
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Are you still using RSS feeds to get your news?
I still use rss feeds and for the most part I still really like them. The problem I have with things like Flipboard is that they look nicer, but they're far less efficient.
I think what we need is something like a smarter RSS technology that helps deliver things that might interest us more. Along those lines, I've always meant to be better about liking/starring/plus one-ing articles so I could try out Google Reader's "sort by magic" option. Has anyone used that before?
In the end, I still really enjoy reading my feeds in Google Reader.
I think what we need is something like a smarter RSS technology that helps deliver things that might interest us more. Along those lines, I've always meant to be better about liking/starring/plus one-ing articles so I could try out Google Reader's "sort by magic" option. Has anyone used that before?
In the end, I still really enjoy reading my feeds in Google Reader.
I will suggest https://www.projectemporia.com/ https://www.projectemporia.com/about.htm i am almost using the app of this on my windows phone everyday.
The problem I have is that I want those smarter feeds, but I also want the organization I get with Google Reader. I want to have stories I've read marked as read, I just want to be presented with the ones I'm most interested in first. I'm really going to have to try that "Sort by Magic" thing more often...
I've devised a simple and effective way to organize my feeds precisely for the reason that they can become overwhelming. I've been using the method for the past few years and it's been working great. My folders are organized as follows:
A-list : these are the feeds that are absolute must-reads as soon as new content is delivered.
B-list : these are the feeds that aren't must-reads, but are still fun to read, say, on a commute, standing in line somewhere. (examples: GOOD, Metafilter, Mental Floss, Neatorama, etc)
C-list : these are the feeds that I rarely bother to check and I probably wouldn't miss if they were gone. The content in these feeds is not timely. (examples: GeekDad, Parent Hacks, etc)
30 Day Trial : this folder is where every new feed goes for up to 30 days. If I find myself reading the feed I file it into one of the other folders. If not, the feed is deleted.
There are a few other specific folders, but these four handle the bulk of my feeds really well!
A-list : these are the feeds that are absolute must-reads as soon as new content is delivered.
B-list : these are the feeds that aren't must-reads, but are still fun to read, say, on a commute, standing in line somewhere. (examples: GOOD, Metafilter, Mental Floss, Neatorama, etc)
C-list : these are the feeds that I rarely bother to check and I probably wouldn't miss if they were gone. The content in these feeds is not timely. (examples: GeekDad, Parent Hacks, etc)
30 Day Trial : this folder is where every new feed goes for up to 30 days. If I find myself reading the feed I file it into one of the other folders. If not, the feed is deleted.
There are a few other specific folders, but these four handle the bulk of my feeds really well!
I've pretty much organized my feeds mentally in the same way, but it does not solve the problem. The problem is that even in my most-read feeds, like the Verge, there is PLENTY of content that I have zero interest in. Currently there are no real ways to weed that out. Something like Yahoo Pipes seemed like a possibility, but I was never able to really figure out how to set it up the way I wanted, and I think the service is defunct now anyway...
I like the idea of a 30 day trial folder. I think I'll start using that in my RSS.
I'm still using Google Reader. I've also given up on keeping up with the sheer onslaught of news, but I've gotten over the need to read it all. I do have one folder of "essential" items that I do read every day or every other day (RSS is especially helpful in keeping up with webcomics, I think), but largely I'll just pick around if I have a spare moment or am bored, and mark everything as read from time to time to clear it out. I get much more of my news from Twitter these days as well.
Although most here say yes , I think they are part of the ~5% who do. I think the majority of people get their news from either twitter/facebook/tumblr, or actually checking their favorite sites daily.
I no longer subscribe to any of the tech news sites like Techcrunch, these websites push out too many updates. Instead, I use it to keep track of those websites which only publish content sparingly, say once a day or once a week; those websites which publish awesome content, but not often enough that it would be worth going to their website every day.
At first I did this by using Feedly's "favorites" feature but eventually I just moved all those must-read sources into a folder called favorites which I always read through first, the rest I only read if I have extra time.
I no longer subscribe to any of the tech news sites like Techcrunch, these websites push out too many updates. Instead, I use it to keep track of those websites which only publish content sparingly, say once a day or once a week; those websites which publish awesome content, but not often enough that it would be worth going to their website every day.
At first I did this by using Feedly's "favorites" feature but eventually I just moved all those must-read sources into a folder called favorites which I always read through first, the rest I only read if I have extra time.
I am still using google reader and have it in my iGoogle. I don't catch everything, but at least I see it when I open my browser. I tried Google Currents but it just took too long to load on my tablet and was not an option for my PC. Not much help but I'll be following the discussion to see what others are doing.
I still use it extensively, with Google Reader as my client. I only subscribe to sites that I consider must-read to begin with, so I don't need a complicated organization scheme. I have gotten very good at skimming headlines quickly, only expanding the articles that actually pertain to me, then hitting "Mark all as read" for the feed after picking out the good stuff. Having the Reader client on my phone helps a lot as I can use dead-time to work on clearing out my feeds. If it weren't for RSS, I just wouldn't bother at all trying to keep up with industry news as I have neither the time nor patience to load all these full sites and skim the pages.
I do not.
I'm actually with you on this one, frankspin. RSS is great technology, but it's a "firehose" of information, when applied to news. Like CDs, magazines, DVDs, videogames and books, RSS feeds pander (in the most negative of ways) to my predisposition to hoard. Running Liferea 24/7 was as if I had a second email inbox--only worse.
But just as with the aforementioned items, I've learned to let go. I've become well trained to skim the first few pages for updates on popular weblogs, while only occasionally visiting lesser known (but still cool) web publications (which only tend to post a few times a week). It's a sufficient practice: the reality of the matter is that it is not the end of the world if I miss a story, particularly since a lot of it tends to be redundant press releases and Apple announcements.
I'm actually with you on this one, frankspin. RSS is great technology, but it's a "firehose" of information, when applied to news. Like CDs, magazines, DVDs, videogames and books, RSS feeds pander (in the most negative of ways) to my predisposition to hoard. Running Liferea 24/7 was as if I had a second email inbox--only worse.
But just as with the aforementioned items, I've learned to let go. I've become well trained to skim the first few pages for updates on popular weblogs, while only occasionally visiting lesser known (but still cool) web publications (which only tend to post a few times a week). It's a sufficient practice: the reality of the matter is that it is not the end of the world if I miss a story, particularly since a lot of it tends to be redundant press releases and Apple announcements.
I use Reeder(itunes.apple.com/us/app/reeder/id325502379?mt=8) for parsing my rss stream. I probably check it a couple times a week depending on how bored I am. There are definitely subscriptions I just mark as read. But for obscure blogs I find it a much better experience. I might miss somebody tweeting their latest article, but I'll find it in Reeder.
What a great question! I still use Google Reader because it is very efficient, simple and straightforward, and you can keep count on what you've read in the web or any app.
Now, there are so many places to see news:
- Flipboard
-The new Facebook "interests" where you can make sort of folders and orginze them with mike's method (and also you can comment on stories)
-Twitter, usually in conjuction with Fliboard or just as tweets
But the thing is that when I use Fliboard, I end up setting it with Google Reader so I don't repeat articles by using the categories.
So in general, I still use Google Reader out of habit but would be willing to use something else. Maybe Flipboard for web and have a similar iPad experiencie but with a trackpad???
Now, there are so many places to see news:
-The new Facebook "interests" where you can make sort of folders and orginze them with mike's method (and also you can comment on stories)
-Twitter, usually in conjuction with Fliboard or just as tweets
But the thing is that when I use Fliboard, I end up setting it with Google Reader so I don't repeat articles by using the categories.
So in general, I still use Google Reader out of habit but would be willing to use something else. Maybe Flipboard for web and have a similar iPad experiencie but with a trackpad???
Anytime I open Mozilla Thunderbird to check my emails, it also syncs up with 19 RSS feeds that I'll skim through for something that catches my eye.
I.E. Minecraft on Xbox 360 coming May 9 for 1600 MS points via the Joysiq Xbox 360 RSS feed.
I.E. Minecraft on Xbox 360 coming May 9 for 1600 MS points via the Joysiq Xbox 360 RSS feed.
If I'm sitting by a computer, I like to visit sites individually and browse that way, just to get an overall "feel" of the site as I'm reading news on it.
When I'm on my iPad or iPhone, I'll usually use Pulse or Reeder to skim through news for stuff that I'm interested in (I only track about 5 sites). I'll throw reviews and features into Readability or Instapaper and I usually just paste article URL's into the Notes app for later access (eventually I'll email this to myself for desktop viewing). Facebook and Twitter are also nice for picking up some news bits that I missed in RSS.
When I'm on my iPad or iPhone, I'll usually use Pulse or Reeder to skim through news for stuff that I'm interested in (I only track about 5 sites). I'll throw reviews and features into Readability or Instapaper and I usually just paste article URL's into the Notes app for later access (eventually I'll email this to myself for desktop viewing). Facebook and Twitter are also nice for picking up some news bits that I missed in RSS.
I just started using RSS feeds about a year ago because I got so tired of going from site to site. I use FeeddlerRSS on my iPhone and iPad and it seems to be more efficient than actually using the web version of Google Reader.
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