If I’m honest I wouldn’t even be blogging if it wasn’t for my good friend Peter taking the time to explain over the phone how to set-up RSS feeds in a Feed Reader - Bloglines. I’ve used Bloglines ever since and have been ever grateful to him as it changed the way I worked and viewed the web.

Some years on Peter started a thread: Moving From Bloglines To Google Reader and I decided this time I’d get with the program and give something else a go. Enter Google Reader and I’m actually impressed. It took a while to get used to and I was tempted to go back to Bloglines but now I’m thinking I may stick with it for a while.

What I like:

• I could easily import my feeds from Bloglines meaning I didn’t have to start again.
• The folder system is easier to use than Bloglines so I feel better able to manage all my subscriptions.
• I like the Ajax interface better than the old antiquated frames of Bloglines.

What I’d like to see:

• A better way to mark posts read. You can mark a whole feed read but you have to remember to do this. Maybe as I get used to Google Reader this will come more naturally.
• New posts opening in the same window as the previous post - although I may just not have found this yet.

What I do find interesting is Google Reader makes it much easier for the reader to read in the reader and not visit your blog/website. With Bloglines I always displayed just the summary and clicked onto the site if a post interested me. This has changed the way I think about my own blog and how it is viewed.

Since then the lovely Peter has written an update: List of Popular Feed Readers *sigh*. I really don’t have time to try them all so will rely on feedback and maybe just test a few.

So what Feed Reader are you using? Why?

Peter Da Vanzo has written an excellent piece on the Cluetrain Manifesto. Funnily enough it was he who bought the book to my attention years ago and it changed my life. Read his post. Get the book.