Comments on: How I Live and Breathe Google Reader

By: Skeptic Geek: Now on Facebook! by @ScepticGeek

Skeptic Geek: Now on Facebook! by @ScepticGeek — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:07:36 +0000

[...] I prefer Google Reader and Twitter as my news sources of choice, many others use [...]

By: marfi

marfi — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:22:08 +0000

I really love user testimonials like this one. It helps build better products! Have you by any chance tried the reader we develop at http://favit.com, we have added filters and shareable bundles to it in order to enrich the experience and make sharing and filtering info easier and faster, see more at: http://blog.favit.com/en/sharing-is-caring-feeds, I will be happy to see what your sceptic opinion will be!

By: Mahendra

Mahendra — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:50:57 +0000

Romit,

Precisely – I use folders in Google Reader in a way analogous to Twitter Lists.

By: Romit Mehta

Romit Mehta — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:34:49 +0000

Very good to see Reader is still “en vogue”. I have read lately that twitter is becoming a lot of people's method of news consumption. I am still not sure how that happens.

Also, in twitter I have adopted a similar approach – create lists for similar groups (Major Tech, Breaking News, etc.) and unfollow them so that my main feed noise reduces.

By: Mahendra

Mahendra — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:33:23 +0000

Vasu, thanks. Yes, I was a heavy user of FriendFeed. The S/N ratio was lesser than Reader, because I was following some non-tech folks to truly engage with the FF community. Both FF and Reader have the problem of duplicate shares.

As far as speed goes, when I was using FF, it was *way* faster than Reader. Now with PubSubHubbub, both are almost equal in terms of speed, but the pubsubhubbub rollout in Reader isn't yet global, which makes my Reader slower than FF at present.

Considering your question from a larger perspective, FF/Buzz are communities which suck you into conversation. Whether that is signal or noise depends on your needs.

By: Vasu

Vasu — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:26:01 +0000

Thanks Mahendra. That was very useful for us. I am curious if you were heavily using Friendfeed at all, (atleast before the acquisition). How do you compare the signal-to-noise ratio and 'first timeness' of your feeds through Friendfeed versus Reader?

Of course, you consume deeply and richly than most typical users. But, just curious if you had data .

By: Mahendra

Mahendra — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:19:35 +0000

Thanks, Dave. That's a useful tip!

By: Dave Richardson

Dave Richardson — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:16:18 +0000

Reader is outstanding when it comes to scanning huge volumes of posts. The mistake I most make is thinking the person sharing is the author – the old speed reading lets me down.

Another good shortcut: if you hit the 'u' key then it gets rid of the left-hand subscription information to make the screen viewing area bigger. This means you can see a few more words in list view that can make a different whether or not it's worth reading the whole item.

By: Mahendra

Mahendra — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:09:27 +0000

Courtney, thanks. I've found my Reader experience improved a lot after I organized 'People I follow' into folders.

By: The End of the Rainbow for Social Media, Spectacle or Solution? » Victus Spiritus

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:51:23 +0000

[...] hopped into a conversation related to how Mahendra’s Palsule’s organizes Google Reader. It took place under Louis Gray’s Buzz share, and Robert Scoble [...]