I’m stupid. Very stupid. Do you know that I’ve never used a feed reader until a few days ago? It’s not that I didn’t know how to use one or didn’t even know what they were - I do. It’s just because I didn’t think it would be that helpful to me. I liked visiting sites, one by one, and checking out if they’ve got content for the day. Like I said, I’m stupid. But not anymore, because now I use Google Reader. And here’s why you should too:
- It’s organized. Google Reader is fantastic when it comes to organization. It’s simple, not flashy. All the blogs you’re subscribed to are in alphabetical order, of course. Basically, it’s just plain old organized. It’s anyone’s dream.
- You can “star” items. If you come across a post in your reader that you really like, you can click a little star beside the post. All posts that you star are saved in a section called ’starred posts’. This way you can easily retrieve them and view them later. I think this is extremely handy - if there’s ever a post with advice I need to refer to or if I plan to post about the topic on my own blog, I just star it!
- It’ll save you a lot of time. I thought I was better off visiting all the blogs I read individually. I was wrong. With the reader, I can keep up with all the blogs I sometimes forget to check. And not only do I know instantly when they post, but I save myself a lot of valuable time. With the reader, all my subscriptions are in one place. I don’t have to go hunting for them.
- You can subscribe to your own blog. Not only does your feed count go up by one number, but you can see how your blog looks to the eyes of the people who read it from a feed. After subscribing to my own blog I noticed it wasn’t too bad, but there are definitely some things I’d like to add and correct.
- You’re not stupid like I was. I admit, I was pretty dumb to refuse to use a reader for the amount of time that I did. But now I use Google Reader, and all is good. If you’re not using a feed reader to check up on all your blogs, then please rethink it. And I do recommended Google Reader.
And those are my five tips on why you should use Google Reader (or at least some kind of feed reader, for crying out loud). If you don’t use Google, then please tell me which reader you use and why. Thanks! 
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Well every1 act stupid at one point or other however kewl ppl just admit to it…. hope i am not exaggerating
I just looked at bloglines beta version. It looks just like Google Reader now. Did they get bought out by Google or are they copying them?
I started using Google Reader about a month ago, and it is a huge timesaver! I used to be content just clicking on the links of blogs on my blogroll, but what a timewaster that was. Now if it’s new, it comes to me. Even though I get it all in reader and not the individual blogs, I’m finding that I’m able to comment more because I am able to keep up more with everyone’s posting and I’m not in such a hurry when I do get to read.
Chris - I checked out the Bloglines Beta, and it definitely does look better than the old Bloglines. However, I don’t think it looks exactly like Google Reader. Maybe I’m seeing different versions, but they don’t look the same to me.
Kirsten - Same here! I save so much time and I’m able to read even more blogs than before. And like you, it’s easier for me to comment as well. I can’t believe I wasn’t using a reader this whole time, but luckily I am now.
I started with Google Reader a couple of months ago and it has saved me time, plus I think it has built my readership in that I have more time to go and comment.
There was some talk about being able to comment right from Google reader, is that available or still pending.
Another benefit of subscribing to your own blog is that it acts as a backup. I am on dial up and backing up my blog with the available software doesn’t work.
Vic Grace - Yes, Google Reader has saved me so much time already, it’s unbelievable. I spend the same time now reading twenty blogs as when I used to read five. And it’s so much easier because the posts come to me; I don’t have to hunt them down.
It would be handy to comment straight from Google Reader, but so far I haven’t noticed being able to do this yet.
Definitely another great reason! That’s true, if you lose your posts you can get them back using Google Reader. It’s not the simplest method but it’s very reliable.
The only thing I liked about Bloglines was the ability to see how many were subscribed to a particular feed, but now there’s feedburner. Also, I hated the way Bloglines would mark an entire feed read instead of each individual post like Google Reader. Sometimes, I only have time to read a post or two and I’ll come back to the others later.
Angela - I agree with you. I’m also the kind of person who might read a couple posts from one blog and then go back later to read the rest. Google Reader suits me just fine and it’s what I’m sticking with.
why you don’t use http://newshutch.com/?!
I definetively agree with.
I increased the number of posts I read and decreased the time I spend on them.
It is really amazing. I love it. Highly recommended
Francesco
Wallace - That reader IS more attractive, but for me it works quite a bit more slowly. All in all, I’m very satisfied with Google Reader even though it is boring and white. It works for me.
Guadagnare - Yes, I used to only have time for around four or five blogs a day, and even then I spent so much time just checking to see if they’d posted anything new, etc. Now it all comes to me - AND I have plenty of time to read about fifteen more blogs than I used to! It’s great.
I started using Google Reader last week. It does save a lot of time! I just get annoyed that a lot of blogs only use partial feeds, so then I have to decide if I want to read the full post and go to the site, or just skip it. The only thing I don’t like about using a reader is it gets boring looking at white pages with black text. So sometimes it is nice to visit actual blogs! And of course you still need to go to the blog site to comment.
Hi,
I start using the google reader after reding your blog…
It’s great timesaver!
Thanks.
Keep up writing blogs like this.
h.
Jeni - I agree with you. I think it’s important that a blog shows its full feed. If it doesn’t, I’ll most likely ignore it for a while. And I also think it’s nice to visit the blog too. But now that I use Google Reader, I’ve saved a lot more time to do that and comment on top of it.
H - I’m glad the post introduced you to using it! Before, when I didn’t use a reader, I was definitely missing out. Thanks for reading and I’m glad you like Google Reader.
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