What to do with my rss feeds now that Google reader is closing down....??

I've known for some time now that I needed to move my rss feed subscriptions from Google Reader to another reader service, but me being me I kept putting it off (procrastination is good for the soul, truly).

Anyway, this week I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and find a new rss reader service. So I checked out a gazillion reviews and reports (okay, I read five) on what to do with my Google Reader stuff, found out how to create an archive of my Google stuff (which I did, and then backed up in about 3 different places). 

After reading this article from The Verge and this one from LifeHacker I decided to check out NewsBlur (even though Feedly came through as more popular, not to mention free) and went with their premium (yes $$ changed hands) account. I've spent the last few days playing with my NewsBlur account and have to say I'm quite pleased with my choice (and at $2/month don't feel too bad for paying the extra freight for it).

A neat little element I discovered today is that as part of my package I get a NewsBlur blog which is automatically embedded with stories I share from my rss feeds. It's pretty bare at the moment (obviously) but it's a feature I can see as being quite useful for me, and has been ridiculous fun to play around with.

Setting up a NewsBlur account was very simple and transferring my Google Reader subscriptions across did not require creating an archive at all (though I am still very glad that I did create an archive as it pulled everything I have on Google not just my Reader stuff). A fun element I have discovered with NewsBlur is that it gives me access to "global shared stories" and from this I can connect to stories my feeds don't normally access which other NewsBlur users have shared from their feeds. This element of connectivity is a huge bonus and perhaps the main feature I have enjoyed, as I don't recall having that sort of connectivity with Google Reader. Even though some/many of the shared stories are complete rubbish (ie, of no interest to me whatsoever) quite a few have been funny and interesting and have seen me discover new people to follow and connect with - and my rss feed has grown as a result.

Yep, today is a good day.

Dec 7 - Productivity: more ways with RSS

I answered the various questions relating to this week's activity by commenting on the Learning 2.1 blog.

Overall I appreciate the broad usefulness of RSS feeds and know that depending on my work demands I may or may not use them often.

For me RSS feeds are a useful reference resource that I know is working away in the background collating information from sites I find intersting and helpful. Because I don't check my feeds all that often it can require a bit of trolling to find what I'm looking for but I do have them roughly organised and I do review them every 6 months or so - getting rid of old ones I no longer want and re-organising the ones that are left.

I use GoogleReader and as it works fine for want I want and have had no reason to try any of the others that are there but I may do should I need a little more finesse to my feeds and my use of them.

Week 4 - RSS Feeds

I found this entire exercise useful in that I've been using Google Reader for a while (when I remember to go check it!) and now to give Bloglines a go I find myself comparing the two.
I tend to not utilise these RSS feeds on a daily basis. Often this is because of lack of time, also due to the display format of Google Reader. I much prefer the screen display of Bloglines. Both are easy to manage, though the sheer volume of daily feeds that can come through can be a little daunting. I like the aspect of being able to keep completely up to date with various subject fields and areas of interest.
I'm still trying to streamline the whole 'subscribe to this feed' aspect from the website end rather than the Google Reader / Bloglines end. But as with other things I like the facility for achieving the same end result using different methods.
My favourite RSS Feed subscription? The quirky Budget Fashionista. It's a girl thing.