Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The end of the Google reader


I was reading some of my favorite blogs the other night and saw a post by Terrie at Creative Explorer.  Her post warned about Google Reader going the way of everything else Google gets rid of when it doesn't make money (MY WORDS, not hers).  She suggested Feedly.





I was talking to my computer guru, Scott, who dropped by for another reason (more on that another day), and asked him what an RSS Feed was.

He explained that an RSS feed, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is a way to easily distribute organized lists, including headlines and information, such as blog updates.  Since I've never considered using this, I wasn't worried. 

I keep MY list on my sidebar and visit whenever I see someone has updated their blog.  I always ask if I can add the person's blog to my sidebar, and I've never had anyone refuse to allow me to do so.

Scott sent this to me:
Now that Google has shuttered its RSS reader, it's a good time to check out Feedly, a simple, well designed alternative. [1 of 3]
Pulse let's you browse the news on your tablet with heavy emphasis on visuals. [2 of 3]  
Have a taste for the classic? The Old Reader mimics original experience of Google Reader. [3 of 3]
From a group called VSL or Very Short List

So there you have it.  Three ways YOU can keep up with your favorite blogs.  Of course, I like to keep it simple.  That's why I am bad about reading e-mails (and seldom, if ever, answer them), and would never consider using an RSS feed, preferring to do everything from my blog.  That includes how I know when my favorite blogs have updated their content.

I hope you find a way to keep in touch, too, because I would hate to lose a reader or a follower over Google's lack of monetary interest!


16 thoughtful remarks:

Divers and Sundry said...

keeping it simple is why i love google reader. i subscribe to hundreds of feeds, from blogs to news sites to aggregators to magazines to art tumblrs and on and on... i wouldn't be able to track nearly so much if i had to go to each site to see if there'd been an update there.

with google reader, i go to google reader and see it all there. everything is nicely organized by subject, shows which sites have updated posts, marks each article as read as i scroll past it but lets me mark it as "keep unread" if i want to spend more time with it later, has no clutter or ads...

i've used a feed reader for years, ever since i realized how few sites i could actually go to individually every day and how many of them wouldn't have been updated once i'd gone there. i think i used rss owl when i first started using a feed reader, and it both simplified and broadened my online world immensely.

i'm a huge fan, could you tell? ;)

apapelouca.blogspot.com said...

Such a nice post, since I knew they would shut google reader I started with bloglovin, it´s very nice too.
xxx

Dawn said...

Hi Elizabeth, hope you are feeling better sweetie? LolI'm with you on the side-bar thing, nice and simple and where I go first to check in with all my friends and their gorgeous art adventures.
Hugs x

Jo Murray said...

Hmmm...a little difficult to put all the blogs I keep track of in my sidebar. Will investigate the other alternatives.

Monica said...

Thanks for this information.Your friend knows how to say something without waffling. Which one does he think the easiest ?

voodoo vixen said...

I have heard good things about Bloglovin, but haven't investigated it yet... if it all comes in via an email, I don't think I would bother as I have too many of them to keep track of already.

~*~Patty S said...

The updated blogroll is one thing I wish WordPress had...
I do not use any feeds, seems to me like one more place I have to visit and just can't keep up
I come to people like you and some other that have a blogroll that updates ...
thank you all very much
Happy first day of spring (brrrr)
oxo

Katie said...

I'm trying out feedly and so far I'm loving it! It imported my google reader blogs :)

Katie

SandeeNC said...

I'll just procrastinate until I'm forced to make a decision, lol That's me in a nut shell, fighting change until the end. FB and Pinterest have both changed their sites, and I'm too old for all these changes! HA! naw, just lazy really! Thanks for visiting me today Elizabeth, waving hi from the hills of North Carolina ♥

Marlynn said...

Dear Bleubeard, Wendy, and you, Like you I too like to keep it simple and prefer the "blog" list on the side of the blog. I know people are stressed about the Google Reader going away BUT I never paid attention to it. LOL. SO glad you were finally able to post on Honeysuckle Breeze - it was not all you fault. I had others saying the same thing and then realized either by "default" by Blog the stuff had changed - got confusing but got it straightened out. Google is trying to give Facebook a run and they want only Google+ to be able to comment. OH, well, I fixed it. Hugs to you from Harley, Rat, and me. And Rat was fine staying at home, needles scare him. Harley is the bravest of them all. : )

Anonymous said...

With wordpress it's not like I can list them easily like blogger let's you do. I use a combination of bloglovin and email to read the blogs I like. Works for me. xox Thanks for the tops though....

Halle said...

Mr G is auditioning new RSS readers for us. I use google reader daily so I will be very sad to see it go.

HeARTworks said...

Hi Elizabeth, You're on my Feedly now. It looks better than Reader but I don't know how to get the new posts to show first in real time instead of alphabetically!!!! Patsy from
HeARTworks

peggy aplSEEDS said...

I also use my sidebar but I'm trying out feedly and pulse to see which I like better. You can just import your google reader list to both of these.

peggy aplSEEDS said...

I also use my sidebar but I'm trying out feedly and pulse to see which I like better. You can just import your google reader list to both of these.

Anonymous said...

Terrible picture of me, Liz. Wish you'd get rid of it, and ask me first!