I started using Google Reader to follow blogs about 6 months ago but I still have not gotten into the habit of actually checking it. Perhaps I have not played with it enough to learn how to use it effectively or change the settings to suit myself. One of my frustrations has been that it does not update the comments on a blog. How is an RSS feed supposed to save me time when I still have to keep track of each blog I have commented on or am interested in to check if there are any new comments. I think reading and leaving comments are almost as important as the initial post since the point of a blog is to initiate discussion. I see so many blogs that sit there lonely as if no one has or ever will read them, and I don't want to contribute to lonely blogging.
Finally a classmate told me that I had to create a separate feed for the comments of a post and I also figured out how to setup my blog so that others may choose to follow the comments. This HAS encouraged me to check Google Reader more often, as well as reorganizing my feeds and folders. Yet, it is still inconvenient that I have to have two separate feeds for posts and comments. In my mind, I pictured comment updates for a post appearing as indented bullets beneath the post in Google Reader. I was going to try a different reader such as Blog Lines but I didn't want to set up yet another account (since I feel as though I have hundreds of accounts all over the internet) and then end up not liking it. I watched a tutorial on Blog Lines and it didn't look much different from Google Reader.
Are ALL blogs capable of having the comments be followed or are there some that do not give that as an option?
Any advice? Any suggestions on a different RSS reader?
P.S.
I realized that many blogs that do not offer an option to follow the comments through an RSS feed offer an option to receive emails anytime someone comments. I find this even more inconvenient than having to set up separate comment and blog feeds because I want all of my blog stuff to be in the same place.
P.S.S
After using two main methods of following comments, I have changed my mind. I now prefer to follow a post's comments through email. This is because, so far, there are only a few responses anyway so they are not bogging down my email account. Secondly, if I use my Reader to follow the comments, I will end up with a feed for EVERY SINGLE post I comment on. That would be quite a few! Still, I only PREFER email over the current system. I'm still waiting for a better method.
It is frustrating to get into blogging. It is also hard to assure that someone is reading yours (if you want someone to that is). I can't quite getting into checking blogs all the time like I check other sites online (facebook, twitter, news, etc.) I thought RSS feed would help me to but it really has not.
ReplyDeleteNow that I've been using Google Reader for a while, I'm getting used to it. I check it almost as often as I check twitter. What really gets me excited about checking Reader is when I've written a post or comment that I am anticipating interesting responses to. I find myself checking it compulsively until I either forget or someone responds. I also have gotten used to either subscribing to people's blog comments in my RSS or by email. I've had somewhat of a change of heart- I think I now prefer subscribing by email cause then I can just delete the email once I've read the response whereas the feed for comments is ALWAYS in my Reader window.
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