Following

Most blog readers subscribe to an rss feed to help them keep up to date with what their favourite bloggers have to say. I read about 100 blogs, consequently after our time away, I have come home with 745 new items to read. So what tips can you give, Dear Reader?

  • Should I cut down on the number of regular feeds?
  • Skim read when I have to catch up?
  • Have an inner and outer circle, ie a mixture of the two above?
  • Always read those who commentate on my blog post?

The truth for me is that when I am faced with a lot of catching up, I firstly check out those who have commented on me – this starts to build up a kind of 1st class blogger relationship; we know one another better than the average blogger. Secondly, I check out favourite reads – often these are people who have similar interests to mine. Finally I skim read the rest. Once I have added someone to google reader I rarely take them off, though it is not unknown.

What about you?
How do you manage your regular blogging reads and friends?

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14 Responses to Following

  1. Dianne says:

    I always check out your blog Freda, and am disappointed those days you are absent. I would like to think of you as a first class blogger friend. I have other favorites like Friko but she too is absent some days. I think we have to triage our blogging buddies, but somedays the first class bloggers simply aren’t around. Dianne

  2. freda says:

    How exciting that I was still sitting at my computer, Dianne, when your comment popped up. Thanks for rating me as a first class blogger friend. Same goes for you. And Friko is one of my “must reads” too.

  3. Lyn says:

    When I have a backlog of reading on blogs, I usually skim through the titles and the first few lines, reading what grabs me as I go, then returning for others later on. I comment on few as I do this; there simply isn’t time, as you know. There are certainly some which I tend to read more thoroughly, usually those with common interests and those who spark an interest on a regular basis, whether funny or thoughtful. I agree that yours and Friko’s are in my “must read” column.

    From time to time I weed out my list when I notice that I’m not commenting or receiving comments from particular bloggers. It’s a good indicator of lack of interest, thus time probably better spent elsewhere.

  4. Lyn says:

    BTW, I thought, just as I posted that comment …. remember the piece about people being in our lies for “a reason, a season, or a lifetime”? I find many blogs are that way with me. I enjoy them for a while, then a shift of my life or theirs makes for a less interesting read, and I tend to drift away. Probably the case for many of us. Realizing that something has passed its expiration date in our lives is a gift, as much as the original finding of that object was a gift at the moment of discovery. I’m learning to be better at letting go of what no longer fits.

  5. Suem says:

    I know I have neglected commenting on other blogs of late. I do always check the blogs of those who comment on mine. I only comment if I have something to say though. I do also drift away from blogs and find others, although some remain firm favourites. I quite like arguing on more contentious blogs – but they never then visit mine.
    745 items ! That is far too much to read and reciprocate comments on!

  6. friko says:

    Well, did I see my name mentioned? I feel honoured indeed, dear friends.

    I always comment on the blogs of people who comment on mine. No comment, no return visit simply because I assume that people read and comment at the same time. Obviously, I’m wrong.
    I have never assumed that my blog is of any great interest to anybody, in fact, I’m surprised to read your comments above. (Honestly – There’s that early not-good-enough training still haunting me)

    I have all comments sent to my email inbox, with one or two clicks I am then in the commenter’s last post, can read and comment myself.

    I post every two or three days now, and use the day in-between for visiting other blogs. As it is, it takes quite a chunk out of my day already and I couldn’t possibly spare more time.

    I too stop reading a blog here or there, although that does make me feel guilty; so often I find people are on a completely different wavelength from me and it would just be dishonest to keep going back and ‘wowing’. That goes particularly for some dismal ‘poets’. Occasionally, I find somebody really interesting and start a new relationship.

    As for leaving the fold – i.e. ‘unfollowing’, I have recently hardened my heart; if somebody pays absolutely no attention to me, after a certain time I ‘unfollow’. I dislike when it happens to me, but there you go, blogging is an ephemeral business.

    Freda, I have never gone in for any short story competition, or any other kind. Thanks for compliment.

  7. Tabor says:

    Freda, I pretty much read and catch up the way that you do. I just do not have time to be totally loyal…but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the blogger or don’t find them fascinating. It is just a time thing.

  8. Ray Barnes says:

    Freda
    I too, like many of your other readers, read more than I comment.
    Generally I skim my favourites (of which yours is one), and if there is nothing too controversial or with which I heartily agree, tend to let it go and wait for the next one.

  9. MadPriest says:

    When I have been away I simply delete (mark as read) all RSS feeds up to the day before I returned without reading them. In other words I treat my holiday from blogging the same as my holiday from my everyday life. The whole point of a holiday is to get away from it all.

  10. LC says:

    Since some changes in my life, reading and commenting takes longer than before and is more tiring. But however sporadic I am, I always eventually get around to reading and,usually, chewing on the substance, whether serious or lighthearted (or serious presented with humor) that Freda, Dianne, Friko and MarciaMayo and other favorites offer. I try to always comment. I came to the following thing late and do not have a huge list that I follow. Siilmarly the number blogging friends who follow my blog is small.

  11. freda says:

    Interesting to see the way different people cope with the problem. Friko, I like the idea of one day to post and another day to read – the only trouble is that the ideas come when the ideas come. MadPriest, you are a jewel among flowers and very brave to simply treat a break as a complete holiday!

  12. Penny Nash says:

    I, too, have a long reading list. Like MP, sometimes I just mark the backlog as read and start over; if it appears that I’ve missed something, I’ll backtrack. I also find that blogs have “seasons” and I may lose interest in one only to discover another. I do try to pay special attention to blogs of folks who comment on mine, but I am not a frequent commenter even on the blogs I read religiously. Sometimes that’s because of time constraints, sometimes because I’m behind and the moment has passed in the discussion, and sometimes because I don’t think I have anything to add to the discussion even though I am enjoying it.

  13. I set a timer each day, for between 10-20 minutes, and read and comment on as many blogs as I can. I keep a 50/50 mix between people who comment on my blog (inner circle, as you say) and new blogs, which I find on the blogrolls of people already on my blogroll (hoping that there will be some similarity of interests). I am sure I miss lots of wonderful posts, but c’est la vie!!

  14. freda says:

    That sounds a great idea, especially for someone with a busy schedule. But I get totally lost in blogland sometimes – or what I mean is that it is a way of escaping from everyday life whilst being prepared to jump back in there at any time.

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