On using RSS feeds
July 23rd, 2007If you’re not using RSS feeds to monitor your favorite blogs and news sites, you’re probably spending more time than you should checking for new content. For a couple of primers on using RSS feeds, check out what Desiring God’s blog has to say about the matter, or what Tim Challies has to say.
In short, using RSS feeds allows you to use one website to keep abreast of everything that’s posted on the sites you want to read. No more checking to see if a site has been updated from the last time you visited. By using RSS feeds, you’ll know when there’s new content — and much of the time, you’ll be able to read all of the new content without even visiting the site that has posted it.
When I first started blogging, I was one of those who bookmarked all of the blogs and sites I wanted to check regularly, but I soon discovered how RSS feeds revolutionized my news consumption habits. I use Google Reader as my feed reader, but there are other good ones out there, such as Bloglines or NewsGator. I have subscriptions for all the blogs I monitor, plus news and sports sites like FOX News, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Christianity Today, Baptist Press, etc.
Even if you’re not particularly tech-savvy, I’d highly recommend that you look into using RSS feeds. It’ll save you tons of time.
I use Bloglines (subscribed to your blog on it!), and I love it. It’s much much easier to check up on the blogs I read than visiting each one individually.
Not being very tech savvy I have only recently started using Google Reader and it has been geat for me!
If you use FireFox then you should check out “Sage!” Its the best feedreader I’ve found and it couldn’t be easier to use! The best feature is that it shows the most post on one screen, but doesn’t leave out photo content. Try it out!
Netvibes is an all-encompassing tool that I use a lot for all types of sites/blogs.