This weekend, the unimaginable happened.
I deleted my Google Feed Reader.
ON PURPOSE.
I have been pondering this decision for a long time. It’s been jumbled up in conversations that I have with myself regarding balancing my life and the internet. You know which conversations I am referring to. They are very like the conversations that you have with yourself all the time about the exact same thing, right?
Right.
It started in earnest quite some time ago, when I read that Whoorl accidentally deleted her reader. I started thinking...”Hmm…would I freak out if that happened to me or would it be a good thing?”
I found myself thinking about it. Revisiting the situation. Quasi-wishing that I would execute one of my infamous technical blunders that would wipe all my subscriptions out without me “Really” being responsible for it. I hemmed and hawed, discussed it with other bloggers and examined my own motivations until my examiner was sore.
And then I took action.
I am not even sure what happened. I was just sitting in bed on my laptop discussing a medical issue with Christine on Google Chat. She told me to hold on for a minute and I was left staring at my reader with 1,324 unread messages in it. By the time Christine came back on…POOF! My hundreds of subscriptions built up over the last 2.5 years were deleted.
Gone.
Just like that.
Most of you just took a sharp intake of breath, didn’t you? Ok, let me qualify that-those of you that use a feed reader on a daily basis just took a sharp intake of breath, didn’t you? Not surprising. This is a really big, huge move for me. (And don’t think that I don’t feel a little ridiculous to copping to that.)
I am torn between feeling BRAVE! FREE!! LIBERATED!! and SCARED! WORRIED!! NAUSEATED!!!
It’s just that lately, my reader has seemed less and less like a friend and helpmate and more and more like a hostile enemy or bitching spouse that is also suffering from severe Erectile Dysfunction Syndrome. In other words, it wasn’t doing much good and was leaving me feeling highly unsatisfied.
The whole blogging thing isn’t really working too well right now. And if I have learned anything, it’s if something isn’t working you shake things up, change the equation and try to see if it helps. I think that there are positives and negatives that come with this deal.
The GOOD:
I feel free. I really do. Like I am free of never-ending guilt, at least for a time. After BlogHer I realized that as much as I enjoyed meeting new people, new reads, I felt totally powerless to read them because my reader was overwhelming me. I am a pretty loyal person and I am also an avid talker. The combination can be quite a time suck, believe you me.
I also want a more personal, organic blogging experience, if you will. Blog the Recession started by Motherhood Uncensored really resonated with me. People put a lot of time and effort into their web pages. I feel that they deserve to be visited instead of viewed through the sanitized view of my reader. Everyone likes traffic and revenue and I should be doing my part to spread the love around.
The BAD:
I know that there are blogs I was subscribed to that I will lose track of. Despite my best intent. Especially those blogs that only update very infrequently. I just don’t have the brainpower to keep track of them all. Did I mention my reader had hundreds of feeds in it? Even if I like you, even if I really don’t want to lose track of you completely. I’m human and I have a tiny little brain.
I also worry that not having a reader will actually mean I am on the internet MORE and not LESS. I am disorganized by nature, so I worry that I will spend a lot of time checking to see if my favorites are updated and blah, blah, blah.
The (possibly) UGLY:
Hurt feelings. Which is the last thing I want, but I am sure that there will be. Which really sucks a duck because being on the other side of the owies a lot of the time, I really hate hurting people’s feelings.
I want to be clear about something upfront: I DIDN’T DELETE YOUR FEED BECAUSE I DON’T LIKE YOU. I feel that the whole “It’s not you, it’s me” line in relationships is the perhaps the biggest craptastic copout on the planet, and yet that is exactly what I am asking you to buy-lock, stock and barrel.
Yes, it was probably time for me to re-evaluate some of my subscriptions, but for the most part? I really love all y’all.
So, what now?
Well…I dunno.
I didn’t really have a plan for all of this. I find that the longer I blog the more interested I am in the PEOPLE behind the blog rather than the blog itself. Is it weird to say that there are bloggers I LOVE, ADORE, and ADMIRE that I read rarely or not at all? Well, it’s true. And that may make me weird, but it seems to be how I roll, people.
I have a feeling that my main sources of browsing from this point on will be via Twitter, comments, emails and the shared items from Google Reader (I didn’t delete those because I have LOVED the gems I have gotten from people like Sizzle, Marilyn,Angella and Megan.).
My main source of browsing, though?
If you aren’t on here and want to be? Leave a comment or email me! I’d be more than happy to add you.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this little experiment of mine. I may hate it and go back to the reader. I may love it so much I will want to make out with it and have little babies together. I also think that there is a high probability that I will feel ambivalent about it and end up thinking, “Meh”.
I just hope I don’t end up regretting it, because regrets suck. And I have quite enough of them in my life without adding “Google” to the list. I know that they are taking over the country, the world, and quite possibly the universe, but they don’t have to invade THAT corner of my life, thank you very much.
Any which way the cookie crumbles? It’s going to be interesting trying to figure it all out.
What about you? Have you had thoughts of Feed Readercide? Have you done it? Do you regret it?
Well I never used it, and guess after reading these posts I am not going to bother.
Shover Robots last blog post..Robotic Update!
Ohh you are so brave. My google reader makes me hyperventilate when I open it. I kind of hate it right now.
I would love to make it onto your Linky Love page. If you felt so inclined.
Thanks for stopping by my blog last week and for your well-wishes. Angella really wasn’t scary at all :)
hillarys last blog post..We Can Get Married And Live In Our World
I think it was a good idea. I don’t subscribe to anyone, I just…click around. And in my head that was said like Jim Carrey says “snoop around” in Ace Ventura…just to let you know. I also know what you mean about bloggers that you love and adore but don’t read their blog much.
Corys last blog post..William Fitzsimmons and his big ole beard…TAKE TWO
You know I hate MY reader. I just don’t fit with that style of doing things.
It makes blog reading feel like an *obligation* instead of something fun I do *to DE-STRESS*. Seriously.
Like I told you, it’s like my mail situation at home — i know it’s there, and there’s some good stuff in it, but it just keeps piling up. Eventually I have to spend like three hours giong through it and not really paying full attention to any one thing. It sucks, but it’s a deficiency I have. I am a Cracker. Fer realz, yo.
I totally feel you on the favorite people/less reading of their blog thing. :D
Kisses and hugs (and I’m totally gonna flash my no-longer-lactating bewbies at you next time I see you),
V
VDogs last blog post..A Return to Bed Head
Heehee! I know that feeling of wanting to burn the whole thing and start afresh. I once set up a reader and was very quickly inundated with hundreds of things I had not read… which only increased because I like to use my bookmarks pages to access posts, not the reader. Plus I like the browsing aspect of saying to myself, hmm, what is loralee up to today? And then it’s a fun visit rather than feeling like an obligation. But I do have lots of good new links from BlogHer discussions. More people for me to drop in on when I have time and inclination. In short: more browsing, less obligation.
Maries last blog post..Wiggling & Whooshing
I’m not into the whole reader thing. I guess I’m just an old fashioned kind of girl.
And I would totally be honored to be added to your blog roll, in a very loser-ish sort of way!
Scary Mommys last blog post..Little Boxes on the Hillside
I THINK I am caught up on adding blogs to my linky love page. Please don’t be offended if you weren’t up there in the first place (I am the most disorganized person on the planet).
If I have left you off or you still want to be added, please pipe up and let me know!
***
Sra: I have no problem if people use a Reader, I really don’t. I also know there are a million and one views on how you go about blogging and viewing blogs. I also fully admit to letting my reader get out of control. I am a pretty loyal reader and it’s not easy for me to admit that my blogging life/preferences/reads have changed because blogs are so personal. And often I really love/like the people behind them.
It was easier to just BAM! Cut everything than sort through and try to eliminate. I’m hoping that if I use a reader again, I will be much more controlled and on top of everything.
I don’t expect anything from people that read me(except that they not be hideous trolls and respectful of me and my readers). I look at it more like looking at a piece of art online vs. visiting it in a museum that is open to the public but that accepts donations.
Is the online experience good? Yes, because the art is good. But for me, I feel that the actual visit is a more fulfilling experience for me. I love putting a blog design, ect. with the words. Blogging doesn’t have a whole lot of visual cues that you can associate to the blogger like you can in real life. It gives a lot of clues to personality and such. And? It means I’m dropping a nickel in the donation pot when I as a “Thanks” for the work involved.
However, I never get my knickers in a twist if people don’t click through, or lurk or just talk to me on Twitter or email instead of reading me.
You didn’t come off as snotty, you did a good job stating your point of view. I always appreciate different opinions.
We’ve chatted about this a bit already, but I just wanted to add my two cents to the swirling discussion of to reader/not to reader and admit that I haven’t used any sort of reader at all during 2008. What is more, I don’t feel like my reading, my commenting, or anything else has suffered because of it.
In fact, I have loved living sans reader since the moment I stopped using one, and yet I’m still able to visit my frequent bloggy haunts, and tons of sites outside my immediate circle, and it definitely feels less stressful and more organic to me. I’d say I read more than I did when I used a reader. And yet, I don’t feel overwhelmed at all.
All of that to say: doing what is right for you, with your site and the way you read the sites you do, is important to overall sanity and I’m glad you are making that decision for yourself as you go along. Muchas smoochas.
I recently reorganized by RSS reader in an attempt to only read those that I wanted to and in the order that I wanted to. It’s worked out relatively well, in that I tell myself not to freak out if there are hundreds unread in categories I don’t know much about. I’ll let you know how it goes over time. :)
Genies last blog post..Paintball!
You know I hear ye on this.
Not sure I can delete it… yet.
But you go girl.
Aimee Greeblemonkeys last blog post..For all those who will be in Denver during the DNC!
And! A lot of times I use my blog list to read from too, of which you are on!
Aimee Greeblemonkeys last blog post..For all those who will be in Denver during the DNC!
Got to thinking about this…and cleaned mine up. So much better, now!
Pantss last blog post..BRAINS!
You’re braver than I am. My google reader has been overwhelming me lately and I knew the time had come to purge some of the blogs. I’m weak and not all that brave so I took it from just under 500 feeds to just under 250. That’s not too shabby if I do say so myself and it’s a much easier loss to deal with
BOTBs last blog post..BOTB: Olympic Heroes
Rather that totally deleting mine, I hit “Mark All As Read.”
After having unreliable internet/broken computer/ vacation… My unreads were up over 1,000… Every time I’d log-in, I’d nearly break out in hives. For me, going back to zero was a nice, clean slate. The other thing I’m going to do when I have time (ha!) is sort them into categories…
And if I’m not on you linky love page, I should be!
Gretchens last blog post..Guess What?
I think you have done something that will make you happy in the long run, that will give you more time and less stress. Good for you.
I actually do go through my subscriptions periodically and delete the ones for which I’ve found myself repeatedly hitting “mark all as read.” Even so, this same idea has been rattling around my head. Still pondering it.
bethany actuallys last blog post..Summing up Saturday
I have never used a google reader and don’t think I ever will. Yes, I have probably lost out on reading some good stuff, but the blogs I love to read, I read.
Good luck with your new freedom!
MacKenzie @ BRC Banters last blog post..The Ordeal or The Trip When I Was an Idiot.
Be free, little one, be free! I have been in Yellowstone and Utah with two weeks without blogs and I realized how much I am weighted down by it all!
I have a very limited list of folks I visit–mostly just those who comment. It was too out of control before and unlike before, I am no longer trying to get new readers but establish relationships with those I already have!
Ambers last blog post..This Mommy Blogger’s Love Affair With the Olympics…and JumboTron!
I am so curious to hear how this helps/hinders your life.
(I’m thinking this will be a good thing. I mean, I’m pretty sure the world will not end.)
Isabels last blog post..In which I prepare to spend an entire month in my bathing suit (or is the correct term “swimming suit”?)
I never figured out how to use a reader – even though it probably would have helped me.. I just like clicking over to the worlds created by my friends… in my head – it’s like visiting their online homes. It doesn’t feel the same when I view them through some washed-out, third-party version. I like seeing your eyes – and I associate this color with you.
I kind of freaked after BlogHer – I realized Faith won’t be home with me all day in a very short time… and how many hours has she spent waiting for me to finish my stuff online? I know there will be time very soon for me to miss her, while I do my own thing. For now, I’m trying to prioritize and just hold it together. I’m not doing a very good job of either.
How did I turn this into something about me? What I meant to say was that I think you did the right thing.. and if you ever subscribed to my feed I didn’t know in the first place. I try not to keep up so I don’t get my feelings hurt if people unsubscribe.
Love you.
All I know is you never visit me anymore and I have flashbacks of Junior High every time you don’t comment.
I will blame it on your reader and try and ignore the fact that you only liked me for my graphics.
God – how many times will I have to hear that line!
Take a picture of me Davie, PhotoShop me Davie, does this top make my boobs look big Davie? You are such a great guy Davie – like one of the girls only with bigger hands and hairier legs.
I have feelings too you know – mostly creepy guy feelings – but they are feelings none the less.
Its a good thing baby comes tomorrow and sex with my hot wife is back on the schedule in a few weeks or I would be totally rejected.
Your not the first LDS blogger I have PhotoShopped LL, but you may be the last!
:)
Davies last blog post..One is the loneliest number unless it is one more day to a dream come true.
@Davie
Yet another reason I ditched my reader. Do you know how many blogs I had that it stopped updating? Let’s just say yours is not the first. Nor the first person to think I was ditching them.
I assumed that you were on a blogging break.Which is my bad, but I did visit your wife. (She is less hairy, you know.)
Totally excited for your little one to get here!
You may have inspired me…
In the meantime maybe I’ll have to share my own posts so that you’ll come and say “hi”.
I kid! That’s the worst. Do what’s best for you and stop by when you can :)
Angellas last blog post..Awesome. Not Awesome.
I like my Bloglines because I thrive on to-do lists. But just like my other to-do lists, I’m not beholden to it.
Whatever works, right?
I start every morning with an itchy trigger finger. You are bold & wise.
Tassess last blog post..Channeling Judas Priest (or maybe just Beavis & Butthead)
The downside of a feedreader is that it accumulates *all* of the posts you haven’t read, so you can just feel the guilt piling on. The beauty of reading from your blogroll (which I usually do) is that you have more of a sense of getting caught up.
I love Blogger’s new blogroll, which shows blogs in the order of when they have updated.
If you add me to your linky, my cat and I will be happy.
threeundertwos last blog post..Happy Birthday Drama Girl!
Ok, and “Hey, Irony?” This at the top of your page:
Make life easier! Subscribe to Looney Tunes with a feed reader. Click and subscribe with the reader of your choice.
BWAHAHAHAHA.
VDogs last blog post..A Return to Bed Head
@VDOG
Oh my HELL that is funny.
Although, to be fair it DOES make SOME people’s life easier. Heh.
Dude. I am going to be laughing at that for quite some time. You are awesome for noticing it.
You. Are. Brave. I would feel so guilty if I did that. I have this uncontrollable need to read every word of every blog in my feed reader, even if it takes 4 decades. ;)
Danas last blog post..A Happy Monday (There’s A First Time For Everything)
Yo, bitch. You can delete all you want, because I’ll just email you my newest post.
Every.
Single.
Day.
Love you!
Sarahs last blog post..Mother Invasion
At least I know they’ll be short.
HA!
P.S. I totally want to buy twinner cowgirl boots with you.
I’m new enough at this whole blogging thing that I still click through to visit each blog. Much more personal that way, at least for me. And, I’m slow to change,lol.
You’ve been on my favorites blogroll for awhile now, if you’d like to add me to yours I’d be thrilled!
I feel your pain, my reader has grown exponentially over the last month and it’s getting out of control. I find myself scanning more than reading – just to get my numbers down. Like any overload, we need to rethink and reprioritize.
Fear and Parenting in Las Vegass last blog post..Fear and Parenting Reviews: The Back to School Edition – Part I
I killed my blogline reader a while back. It was overwhelming me and making me not like blogging anymore.
Damn girl. Seems we have more in common than we thought.
You are my DOPPELGANGER.
Or the wind beneath my wings. Heh.
I don’t use a reader. I never have. I bookmark sites I love. I visit through my comment links, others comment links. Twitter links. Stumbled posts. I’ve found that this way I read what I want to read, and I don’t feel like I’m being obligated to read anything. It’s like a breath of fresh air.
Shamelessly Sassys last blog post..Happy Birthday
I view blogs using Live Bookmarks in Firefox. That way, you actually visit the site, but you merely have to look in your bookmarks to see if there are new posts. I like it.
Craigs last blog post..The Ordeal or The Trip When I Was an Idiot.
I have thought about using that for people I have met in person. Does it keep track of all the unread posts, though? because I hate that.
I am not brave. I have thought about it. I am drowning in my Google Reader. 4460+ posts currently. BUT I am afraid to lose my blog friends. And those I care enough to RSS, I do consider friends.
But you know what? I so identified with what you said about being more interested in the people behind the blogs, Loralee. That’s exactly how I feel, too. The Community, reading, and commenting, is more important to me. Twitter has pretty much become my feed reader. Guaranteed if a follower tweets a post, I will read it.
I am thinking about this, more and more. Nice job. May join you on the delete train, just have to build up my nerve.
T.
T@SendChocolates last blog post..I Knew Google Was Messing With My Head!
I don’t even know what a google reader is…I think I’ve learned from your post that ignorance is bliss.
I only use feeds for blogs that I follow. It’s easy to check and see who has a new post rather than spawn 30 tabs. I removed all the news feeds and other stuff since I would end up clicking on new stuff all day if I didn’t.
It’s like crack. A little won’t hurt and you can stop whenever you want if you don’t do it too much. Yeah, that sounds good…
Jims last blog post..The Boy Wises Up (about adoption)
Dude, no way am I giving up my reader. Sometimes we have a love/hate relationship, but then again, sometimes I hate my kids too, sooo….
I keep my subscriptions under 125. I won’t go over that because it’s unrealistic. In fact, 125 is unrealistic and I don’t strive to read all of those even weekly, must less daily (gack! could you imagine?)
All the mental angst I feel with the reader…I’m working on it. For now, I’m trying to turn it into a lesson about learning to be ok with putting myself before others. If I get to the reader, great. If I don’t, I’m not going to feel guilty for living my life anymore.
Queen of Shake Shakes last blog post..Where Champagne Replaces My Morning Coffee
Wow, I am impressed. I don’t think I could do it, only because work blocks 90% of the blogs I read, so the reader is the only way for me to keep up. I have a very intricate system of reading in the reader, typing comments in a spreadsheet and then clicking through once I get home.
Good for you!
Kristabellas last blog post..How My Mind Works
I’m all about bringing back the blogroll. But keeping mine updated is triple hard. I’m going to try….
Deb on the Rockss last blog post..Are their lithe, powerful bodies taunting you with what you COULD have been?
coming out of lurkdom to say: Good for you. I’ve seriously been considering this for a while (a month or so) myself. And like you, the whole Blog the Recession has me thinking about a return to the old-fashioned blogroll. I’ve left fewer comments since I started using a reader. I’ve been “less involved” and felt a stranger to friends since I began the reader habit. My plan is to leave the “techie” feeds in my reader and resync my blogroll with my feed list and go with that.
I put a lot of work into my blog as do many others – clicking through to the blog is not just about Blogging the Recession, but about honoring the time that others’ put into their design and their writing.
@Kristabella
HOLY COW!!
Dude, if I had a brain that was remotely capable of creating a spreadsheet for my comments and then putting them all in at home I would totally not even have written this post!
Came over from Angella’s Dutch Blitz…
Oh, the guilt I recieve from that stinking little (or big) number at the top of my subscriptions page. I, quite frankly, have enough guilt in my life – I am a mother – I don’t need Google to guilt me also.
I feel terrible that I can’t leave a well thought out comment on everyone’s blog. I happen to hate drive-by comments, but I simply don’t have the time to give every blog post the comment it deserves – again, a mother.
I find that I neglect the people that leave comments on my blog because I am so busy trying to fulfill my “obligation” to my subscribed feeds.
All that to say… you are brave and perhaps my hero :).
-Andrea
I could never delete my entire reader. No way. No how.
BUT -
I am learning to delete a feed here and there when I find I’m just hanging on to it out of some sense of obligation.
And I do go ahead and “mark all as read” when I find I am busy.
I’m learning that it’s OK to be too busy for blogging.
Miss Britts last blog post..One Year: the real reason I didn’t blog this earlier
I honestly might do the same thing… I’m one of those “Mark all as read” people just because get overwhelmed with all of them. I think starting over from scratch and setting a LIMIT for myself would be better. Thanks for the inspiration… might just have to do that. Maybe. ;)
I’m here out of intrigue from Angella over at Dutch Blitz. All I gotta say, wow, all the power to you girl. Feed readers are OVERWHELMING at best, and with that comes heaps of guilt and less time spent with family, and…oh…I don’t need to go on. You’ve hit the nail on the head ever so eloquently.
Karlas last blog post..The Almighty Biter
Of course now this means I have do synchronized diving to get you to link to me.
I had Google Reader for exactly 3 weeks and I had such anxiety over what I hadn’t read, I deleted it way back then.
You are still one of my favs…
Hidings last blog post..Giving myself permission
@ Hiding
HA HA HA HA! Synchronized diving?! HA!
I’d add you anyway, but the laugh is totally appreciated today.