I've just spend 2 hours updating my Bloglines account with a bunch of RSS feeds I want to stay on top of. And I'm still not finished. And frankly this was a procrastination tactic to avoid cleaning up the piles of paper in my office. So here I am at 4 PM with an office that is still a mess... and an RSS newsreader that's still missing dozens of blogs I want to read.
So either I'm a klutz when it comes to adding .rdf URLs to Bloglines (yes, I'm using their "instant submit" tool) or... RSS is not going to simplify my life. First it was an overflowing inbox. Now it's an overstuffed Bloglines account with "recently updated" links calling out to be read. At least there's no spam. But there are still too many choices. Exciting in a way. But also overwhelming. Do you agree?? Would love to hear your comments below. Just click the link and fire away.
Oh, and if you're curious here's my Bloglines feed list. Consider it a work in progress.
Useful Link: RSS isn't simple by John Maeda of MIT's Media Lab
Well, if you are managing your subscription list in Bloglines, then RSS doesn't simplify your life. Tools gotta get better. Bloglines for subscription management is very lacking. There's no way you can get the same user experience as a native UI.
Posted by: Randy Charles Morin | March 08, 2005 at 04:37 PM
Well I love that Bloglines is Web-based so I can access it from any computer. What RSS newsreader do you recommend??
Posted by: Debbie Weil | March 08, 2005 at 04:43 PM
On my last business trip, I didn't have time to read through my updated Bloglines feeds and by the time I got around to it, my 120 or so feeds yielded hundreds of posts. That was truly an overwhelming feeling since I subscribe to those feeds because I am interested in what the authors have to say, but I certainly don't have time to comb through hundreds at once. Yet, because they are staring me in the face with content that is supposed to be timely, I feel compelled to get through them. With all the benefits I've realized through blogging and reading blogs, keeping up with writing and reading has also added stress.
The one thing that has helped me the most was reordering my feeds by priority (to me) rather than by topic (which is how I grouped them originally). That way, when I am short on time, I can focus on the most important ones.
Posted by: David Paull | March 08, 2005 at 05:04 PM
New methods of delivery won't cure the problem of information overload, just exacerbate it.
The content is everything. Most content is a rehashing of old stuff, new comments on old stuff, or salami-slice updates on old stuff.
We need a new appreciation of what matters. If only 1.2% of Fortune 500 is blogging, and 0.03% of total blogs are business blogs, that's either a huge opportunity, or a signal to stop reading blogs.
The old distinction between what's froth and what's universally valid is relevant here, surely. If we have a good business model, stick to it and just -- occasionally -- sample the rest.
Posted by: John Evans | March 09, 2005 at 05:09 AM
I got a bit overwhelmed a while back. What helped was puttng the really important feeds into Bloglines and the others (that are nice to read but it doesn't matter if I delete them all when I can't be bothered) go into a non-browser program.
I check Bloglines throughout the day, getting 5-10 new posts at a time and then fire up NetNewsWire when I have a spare half hour to skim through 100 or so.
Posted by: Mary-Ann Horley | March 09, 2005 at 06:45 AM
Thanks for the great feedback everyone. I will try some of your suggestions.
Posted by: Debbie Weil | March 09, 2005 at 06:50 PM
I'd agree. Bloglines just isn't very user-friendly.
Rather, I'm a huge fan of the RSS feeds feature in the Thunderbird mail client. Basically, it creates a separate inbox, with folders for each RSS feed. Then, each post just pops into the folder - where you can mark 'em read/unread, delete 'em, search 'em, move 'em to another folder, etc. just like email.
The killer thing is that when you open one up, you're not looking at an excerpt or a text-only version. You're looking instead at the web page for the original post - right there in Thunderbird. (That's an option; you can get text-only excerpts if you really want.)
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | March 14, 2005 at 02:41 AM
Quick tips:
- Bloglines has an import feature from other clients, if you used such before.
- 2 hours for that little feed amount you have is much too long. Did you use the easy subscribe bookmarklet (accessible from the bottom of the feed view?
- you need more folders.
Make folders for your must read, nice to read and in other group sortings.
This way you can click on a folder and get every new entry in every feed in this folder in one page instead of clicking many times.
You will not be tempted by a totally cluttered view on your feeds, but for example only see
- must read (1)
- funstuff (230)
- hobby (12)
hth :o)
Nicole
Posted by: Nicole Simon | March 15, 2005 at 11:13 AM
One of the problems I've had with blogs all along is that you either need people to visit your site regularly or depend on them to understand RSS and how to set themselves up to receive it. (Who hasn't struggled to teach friends and family about this stuff?)
That's why I really like the Bloglet applet (www.bloglet.com). It sets up your blog so that people can subscribe to receive a compilation of your blog on a daily basis by email. It's free and I can attest that it's easy to set up on Typepad.
Oh, and Hi Debbie!
Posted by: Jon Lowder | March 17, 2005 at 04:22 PM
Debbie ... Maybe I am really dumb as a post, but I just don't get why everyone thinks RSS is hot for B2B marketing.
Why is everyone assume the corporate world has installed a RSS reader on employees desktops? The fact is they have not. It costs a huge amount of dollars to make changes on each desktop and RSS is NOT a killer app that business unit managers are begging for.
For those few who have installed an RSS reader, the management of content sources is a nightmare. Think in terms of your favorites folder. We all get excited about saving favorites until we have too many to keep track of, then we don't use them.
RSS falls under the category of 'cool tools' that very few people use.
Thanks for allowing me to rant about this. RSS is not dead, it just never materialized.
Posted by: Hank | March 17, 2005 at 05:12 PM
You get what you pay for. Bloglines is a simple, inexpensive blogging tool. For more advanced users wanting better tools, you can spend more money or find an open source software product for free.
Posted by: jim wilde | March 17, 2005 at 06:28 PM
I use My Yahoo for RSS feeds, as do a lot of other people I know -- and most of them don't even know what an RSS feed is.
As long as sites like Yahoo and MSN provide a "choose your headlines" feature, I think the future of RSS is pretty bright. (And I don't even have a Bloglines account.)
That's my two cents!!!
Posted by: Aimee Kessler Evans | March 21, 2005 at 12:23 PM
Hi Debbie,
I agree with Nicole that you need more folders (have looked at your bloglines feeds list). I like her suggestion of ordering them in terms of reading priorities. My personal choice of folders might be:
1) Must Reads
2) Good to Read
3) Occasional Good Stuff
4) Keeping-In-View only
5) Relegated for Exclusion
6) Hobby/ Fun stuff
It's kind of like the promotion and relegation system of English Soccer -- overtime, you move the blogs up or down as you priorities and/ or the blog content changes. Easy to do in bloglines. So far I've found bloglines very good, predominently bec. it's web-based.
Posted by: Ivan Chew | April 02, 2005 at 09:48 AM
Hi Debbie,
I agree with Nicole that you need more folders (have looked at your bloglines feeds list). I like her suggestion of ordering them in terms of reading priorities. My personal choice of folders might be:
1) Must Reads
2) Good to Read
3) Occasional Good Stuff
4) Keeping-In-View only
5) Relegated for Exclusion
6) Hobby/ Fun stuff
It's kind of like the promotion and relegation system of English Soccer -- overtime, you move the blogs up or down as you priorities and/ or the blog content changes. Easy to do in bloglines. So far I've found bloglines very good, predominently bec. it's web-based.
Posted by: Ivan Chew | April 02, 2005 at 09:50 AM
(For some reason, this is the 3rd time I'm posting 'cos it doesn't seem to appear in the blog):
Hi Debbie,
I agree with Nicole that you need more folders (have looked at your bloglines feeds list). I like her suggestion of ordering them in terms of reading priorities. My personal choice of folders might be:
1) Must Reads
2) Good to Read
3) Occasional Good Stuff
4) Keeping-In-View only
5) Relegated for Exclusion
6) Hobby/ Fun stuff
It's kind of like the promotion and relegation system of English Soccer -- overtime, you move the blogs up or down as you priorities and/ or the blog content changes. Easy to do in bloglines. So far I've found bloglines very good, predominently bec. it's web-based.
Posted by: Ivan Chew | April 02, 2005 at 09:51 AM
I am surprised, why everybody seems to find Bloglines lacking. I kind of assume that some features of bloglines are not quite understood.
I am managing 800 feeds with Bloglines and if I would not be able to manage my feed with it, I would be lost.
But, to come back where Debbie likes the online approach: There are some feedreaders out there, which have an interface with bloglines, so one can use the feedrader and also use bloglines.
I think Feeddemon has such.
Posted by: Nicole Simon | April 02, 2005 at 01:17 PM
I'm a huge fan of the RSS feeds feature. Basically, it creates a separate Inbox, with folders for each RSS feed. Then, each post just pops into the folder - where you can do various operation like read or delete etc just like email.I will surely try some of your suggestions.
Posted by: Software Testing Services | July 15, 2010 at 04:30 AM
Hm... I think it was supposed to simplify the reader's life that is why nobody thought about the site owners.
Site owning is a hard work, isn't it? no matter if you're paid for it or not. But it also the most rewarding activity!
Posted by: emergency response | July 22, 2010 at 06:15 AM
I think the RSS does simplify things and help differentiate. but I think it will be perfected into something new very soon - the fact is that it is not used by many people as a lot of people tend to think sometimes.
Posted by: Satellite Antennas | December 29, 2010 at 07:53 AM