I am curious about your blog reading habits.
Do you have a list that you read every day or do you splurge on a Sunday morning?
Do you use an aggregator or type in addresses?
Do you go to the blog of everyone who comments on your blog or do you stick to your favourites? (If the latter I guess if you are here I should say thank you!)
Do you surf blogrings lists?
Do you have the faintest idea what an RSS feed actually does?
I confess I am not as good a reader as I want to be. I have one blog which I log onto every day without fail as soon as I switch on my computer (Oh go on, I'll show favouritism - its this one!).
Then I use blogs as a break when I am working ( like I should be now) or to catch up a bit after I hae done my post which might be in front of the TV, laptop on knee in the evening. I have a handful I always check, and I always go to one who have just left me a comment. Indeed from time to time I am very pleasantly surprsied when someone I consider a' big name' (i.e someone I 'know' from a magazine or big website) suddenly comments on my little old blog out of nowhere (thank you Lisa Walton and Ami Simms most recently) but then I have ooodles of blogs that I forget about for days or weeks on end then remember. Then I feel guilty because I love these blogs and I didn't spend time catching up with my 'friends'. ( I have to use inverted commas because my Mum tells me that you could all be dangerous lunatics and it is dangerous to let you close enough to be a friend without knowing you in the flesh. This is from a woman who runs a B&B and lets strangers sleep in her house!)
I know about Bloglines and I should try harder with it but somehow it annoys me - I end up opening the blog separately to see it better. So I ignore it for ages then I log on and there are thirty squillion entries to read ( most of which I actually read already because I went direct to the blog).
So I guess what I am saying is (a) if you have a more organised method let me know and (b) if you want me to read your blog frequently comment here frequently - a blank message will do the trick!
8 comments:
Bloglines used to drive me loopy, so I moved to google-reader. Didn't know the change could make things so much easier.... I have a "next button" installed on my web browsers tool bar, which when I hit it simply goes to the next RRS feed I've subscribed to. I find I cylce through my blogs list (of about 100) simply by hitting the next button a couple of times each time I take a break and sit at the computer. That way I don't go to blogs that haven't been updated.
I do purge my subscription lists about once a month, since I add all the time with a "subscribe" button when I fall across a link that looks interesting in someone's blog....
I do not comment on every blog I read every time. If I have the time or interest or I will -- call me selfish, but its part of how I manage my on-line time and get to read the number of blogs I do.
Some days/times I simply flip through my blog listings and take a brief look -- does the first couple of sentences interest me, is the picture interesting... if not I don't read. Other times I read whole posts just to see what's up. It really varies based on my schedule/feelings/life.
I get my blog comments sent to my email, so generally reply via email. If its someone completely new to me I check out their blog, though if there is no email to reply to the comment they left me I may or may not get in touch with them via their blog -- I figure comments back and forth on a public blog won't be a "friendship" whereas private emails back and forth move that direction...
Good luck with finding a system for managing the web that works for you.
I keep a list of the blogs I follow using bloglines. I don't know if there is a better service available, and if there was I don't know if I would even take the time to switch. Just too much work/time.
I follow over 200 blogs currently and will ocassionaly 'delete' someone if they fail to hold my interest. Other blogs I will delete are those that have their settings in such a manner that they don't allow me to read the entire blog post in my bloglines view panel. I just can't take the time to click to every blog and I will only leave a comment if I have something to say or want to comment on some art work that I like.
I also don't always read all the blog posts from those blogs I follow. Sometimes I just don't have the time, and I'll just look at the pictures. And if the blog post is very long, I will probably tend to skim through it quickly.
I do visit the blogs of those who comment on mine. Especially if I have never 'met' that person before. I like to see who is visiting me.
Well I'm always happy to stop by and see that you've posted lots since my last visit; I have no method or system and don't subscribe to any of those services.
I'm sad, though, because it's looking as though you've never received the package I sent; you should have had it a week or two ago. A magazine, the tie for Dennis (not the thread box, yet) and some other small things. No sign of it, eh?
OK, since you asked. :) I use a reader (bloglines) and have it divided into sections - I have one group of blogs which are my "favourites" for lack of a better term, which I check often, if not daily and others which I check as and when I have time which sometimes means every few days and sometimes means every few weeks. (At this point I should say that there are 167 blogs in my reader.)
I also go off and visit the blog of anyone who comments on mine who I don't know or who isn't one I read regularly already.
I used to find bloglines annoying, because of liking to read in a new window, but actually, I'm used to it now, and just read stuff in a new window when a)the pictures aren't showing or b)I want to leave a comment.
I have weeks where I feel really chatty and comment a lot and other times when I almost never say anything (my friends IRL might not believe that, but it's true) - guess that's a mood thing. And time, too, as no way do I have time to comment on every blog I read, even if I had something to say to each one.
I do tend to purge my list regularly - as a matter of fact, I keep one section of my list for blogs I am just trying out for a while to see if I like them or not...
Not sure that helps you at all, but that's what I do. :)
Thanks for calling me a BIG NAME - made me chuckle.
I am an avid Google Reader fan and it has made my blog reading life so much easier. I have it set to showing me only the ones that have changed which is very efficient. I also have a subscribe button which allows me to just click on it anytime I find myself at a new blog I want to add to the list. Very clever. How did we ever do without blogs/email/internet/google???
There is a video on my blog that tells you about it a couple of posts ago.
Regards from Sydney
It sounds like Terri and I have similar blog reading habits. I currently subscribe to almost 200 blogs using Bloglines.85% are art/quilt related, 10% are blogging/web design/digital photography related and the balance are blogs of family and friends. In the spirit of community and interaction, I try to leave a handful of comments every day. I set up a Google reader account but found I like Bloglines better for reasons that are difficult to pinpoint (it's probably habit!).
For a long time I (anally) kept my bloglines list below 100 -- but I currently have 127. I do weed some out every once in a while (even quilters can get tedious!) and I'm alway finding new ones.
I definitely check out the blogs of people who leave me comments, and many of them end up on my list.
I separate my list into "quilting", "other crafty stuff", and "miscellaneous" -- which includes some politics, some cartoons, and a variety of just plain amusing writers.
I thought about google-reader, but I wasn't sure if there was a way to transfer my list without having to re-type all the addresses... kind of like changing your internet or phone company!
I have a blog list that I go through to see if there are any updates. I especially go through the blogs of my fellow students to see how they are doing and usually leave a message of encouragement. I usually go to your blog first! Then go to see Jennifer via you bloglist. I do like to go through other peoples lists - is this like going through people's drawers? - and visit other blogs via comments left on other blogs. Gosh this sounds like a confession of a Blogger! But if people didn't want you to visit their blogs surely they could be anon. Anyway I hope bloggers visit my blog via comments I leave.
At the moment I keep my list in a note book, I planned to put these blogs onto my favourite list but don't get around to it!
Best wishes
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