Update: With the anticipated absence of Google Reader, I’ve decided to subscribe to the blogs I love the most (via e-mail and Mac Mail’s RSS reader).
I used to tell anyone and everyone how much I love Google Reader for keeping up with my favorite blogs. I do love it still, but I haven’t been using it anymore because the number of blogs I follow has gotten completely out of hand. I subscribe to hundreds of blogs there and the “unread posts” count was sky high. So over the last few weeks, I started at the top with my “artistic inspiration” folder and methodically worked through all the posts until I got to my “writing” folder. Each day I would read any new posts that came up in my already cleared categories and then start anew. I have some sorted into classes I’ve taken and my “Friends from Behind the Scenes” and “One Little Word” folders were particularly daunting!
In the process, I subscribed to e-mail updates of a few of my favorites, many of which you saw in Monday’s list of my friend Robyn’s favorite blogs. They come to my inbox, I read them and comment if I want to, and delete. The ones left in Google Reader are there for a rainy day when I have nothing else to do… never gonna happen.
My “life” online has gotten busier and busier. I find that when my daughter is in preschool, I can spend the entire time on my laptop if I let myself. Checking e-mail and editing pictures is a must, writing new blog posts and replying to comments is a priority every day, and catching up with whatever classes I’m taking is just plain fun.
I enjoyed catching up with many many friends but I have to tell you… I unsubscribed to quite a few blogs. I simply can’t keep up, nor do I want to. I must simplify or I predict I’ll be tied to my computer for more and more hours a day. The friends that I want to interact with are those to whom I feel an authentic connection. I want this blog to be a vibrant community and I want to be able to know you as you know me. If you comment here, I want to be able to take the time to reply thoughtfully and to know more about who you are. I want to visit your blog, etc. So the random book review and photography blogs are no longer on my radar.
Social media can be awesome (who doesn’t love Pinterest?) but it seems we can cast a very wide net if we let ourselves. I also started “tweeting” in December (gosh that sounds dumb) and immediately found myself following people and news sites that clogged up my feed with info I don’t really need to know. So I have to figure out how to best use that too or I’m going to go insane. 🙂
My strategy (if you can call it that) for being in the world thus far has been to consciously ignore most external stimuli. I am very sensitive to negative news stories, quite prone to extreme worrying, and love my own company. So I rarely turn on the tv, look at Facebook, or go out with groups of people. (Thankfully, my hubby tells me if there’s anything I need to know.) For awhile, I had a good balance, but now I notice I need to simplify again.
Tell me how you manage to keep your life online in check.
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Speaking of getting caught up on a blog, here I am!
I keep track in my head ONLY. I know that sounds ridiculous because I have a lot of stuff swirling around in there, but I really do rely on my memory to tell me to go to the blogs I really like. So I might only remember every 2 weeks, but I always seem to, and then I get caught up.
Twitter also helps but you’re right, your feed can get so clogged up. Make lists to sort the people you follow. You don’t need to put everyone on a list, they can just stay in your main feed. But if you have certain interests like photography, writing, etc, put all of those people on lists. They can crossover too, and be on multiple lists. And you can even keep your lists private so no one knows they exist or how you categorize them.
Ok that was a long one. Sorry about that but hopefully the twitter bit helped 🙂
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Oh, I feel so old sometimes! It is difficult for me to keep up with online classes, blogging, reading favorite blogs (which includes yours, Naomi!), facebook and actual real snail mail (yep, I actually do that, too!)
I’ve entered my favorite blog addresses on my iPad and with just a click away, I check in once a week for any new posts. I rapid fire check my email in the morning (TMI -while in the bathroom!) I know I have a limited time to get ready for work…so those email reads go quickly! I only go to my Pinterest account to get a craft idea for my pre-K class. I found I was spending way tooooo much time having fun.
Who would have ever thought we would have all these dilemas?!
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Lol. I know! It’s such a modern day quandary and really isn’t important at all, except that it’s how we are investing our time… and lots of it! I reach a point of saturation and I can tell when too. After reading a few blogs, sometimes even emailing them to myself so I can remember to go back and leave a comment, I start to feel overwhelmed or restless and I know I need to step away. 🙂 Thank you so much for commenting, Ruth! I am so glad you are part of this community we are making here.
Hi Naomi, I actually don’t know anything about subscrbing to blogs; I just bookmark them under Favorites on my computer, and I have them categorized by “Blogs, Friends,” “Blogs, Art and Crafts,” “Writing,” etc. Then I just check in every week or so (I am trying to do it less often, so I don’t spend so much time online). It doesn’t take much time to check in on Facebook, and I have avoided Twitter and Instagram. I have bookmarked some favorite Pinterest pages to gaze upon once in a while, but haven’t started a page myself. I have to “prune” my favorites list once in a while, too, just to keep things manageable. There are an awful lot of good things in the world vying for our attention!
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Andrea, I used to do it that way too and it took me ages to get through them all. That’s why I am so happy I discovered Google Reader. Now that they are retiring it, I’ve gone through and subscribed to e-mails from those blogs I love. The rest I am going to read through the RSS reader in Mac Mail. It seems easiest that way for me… they show up and I read them right away and then it’s done. 🙂 Of course, the “problem” is that I keep finding kindred souls to follow.
Interesting post Naomi, I know what you mean about following blogs it is so difficult to keep up. With the death of Reader I will just subscribe to the ones I can really relate to especially my Facebook groupies and likeminded souls…..
I found your post really interesting…and then the thought came to me to be careful what I wish for…LOl…I don’t have very many followers on my blog…but then I have only this year started to get more serious and I have set up blogging days…so far I’m making my deadlines but only doing two days a week…because I’m also taking on-line classes that I have to keep up with…for me, it’s enough…I still belong to flickr and facebook…like you say, we could spend the entire day on line..I love blogging and I love my classes and flickr, well I do it when I can..takes so much time to respond if you post. So for now I am happy with whatever I get done…time is limited…I babysit two of my grandchildren two days a week and that is about all I can handle…so many after putting this on paper (so to speak) I don’t need a million followers, perhaps just enough to validate my writing and photo’s…and if no one shows up, that’s o.k. to, because I really do it for myself as sort of an on-line journal..
Thanks for sparking my thinking…Naomi.
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A timely decision, Naomi, as Google just announced they’re shutting down Google Reader. http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/13/google-reader-shut-down-spring-cleaning/
Anne Camille recently posted…Sunday Quote, 2013, Week 10, Havel
Well shoot! I’ll still need something!
I can’t figure out how to follow your blog. Can you help me??? Yeah, with the classes and the other stuff it DOES get to be too much. I’ve sort of neglected Facebook lately too. 🙂
oh sister…i totally can relate. you know, i just stopped worrying if i don’t read everything in my google reader. as you said, there’s only so many hours in a day and i don’t want to spend more than i have to chained to my computer.
but you know, the other thing is that i want to be doing MY stuff. learning MY stuff. experimenting with MY stuff. hard to do when i try to keep up with others’ stuff. finally, i had to let go of the worry that i might miss something important (that would be beneficial to me) in someone else’s stuff. and the crazy thing is that i feel less pressure to keep up. more free. less BS from my inner critic. less unproductive, flow blocking comparison.
hope you’re finding some freedom for YOUR stuff. 🙂
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So true about doing your own stuff too! Good point.
Naomi! I feel the same way! I have a been considered shutting it ALL down. I can waste more time on the computer when all I really want is more time to enjoy this beautiful life I have. Not do I want the guilt for not blogging regularly. There is not enough hours in the day and I don’t have a solution. Yet. But I’m thinking on it. Thank you for posting this. I am really glad to know that I’m not the only struggling with being so “connected.”
It seems to be a good thing in moderation, right?
That is one of the reasons I am not on Facebook – I don’t need another addictive online timesucker!
So true. I’ve been forgetting about FB lately and it’s been nice!
I completely understand and agree Naomi. I have found the email subscription works best for me too. Even with that I get behind too. Last night I spent the two hours my daughter was in dance just going through emails and only deleted the ones I didn’t want to read. I’m working my way through to read the ones I’ve left in my box. It’s the same with Life Book. I’m still on last years class! Somewhere in September. I love it and would love to spend all day just doing LB and reading blogs! We’ll figure this out somehow!
Ah the e-mail inbox! I finally got mine down to zero today but now it’s back up to 21… I only delete them when I’ve taken action on them in some way… replied, put something on my calendar, looked something up. 🙂
I have the same issues. I find myself subscribing to new blogs regularly, but can’t keep up with them. If someone comments or likes a post, I try to visit their blog, but even keeping up w that leaves me buried in a list of things to click, a list I’ll never catch up with. I started to build a list of blogs I love so I can more easily access but I abandoned that idea quickly. Pretty much these days, I go to my WordPress reader when I have time and scroll through the newest posts. I miss much this way but I limit my online time. Those blogs I really love I subscribe via email.
Anne Camille recently posted…Sunday Quote, 2013, Week 10, Havel