Hoopla about Google Reader

After getting a couple of questions on my post about Bloglovin, I realized that not everyone reads the blogs I read, so I will try to give a rundown of what I know about this Google Reader thing:

As of July 1 Google Reader will no longer be available.  You can read Google's official statement here.

For those of you who don't use or know about Google Reader, it is an RSS feed reader that can help organize the blogs that you follow. 

A reader is a really convenient way to read blogs instead of bookmarking them, or remembering web address, or searching for them.  All the blogs are in one place, and readers generally have various features to help you organize the blogs you read - either by subject, or ones you don't want to miss, etc.

The good news is that even though Google Reader is going away (which is what I have always used) there are other options out there.

Bloglovin  is one.  The reason I did my weird post yesterday is because I wanted to 'claim my blog' on their website.

Feedly is another.  I've heard good things about Feedly.  Here is a comprehensive review of Feedly that might help if you're looking.

Both bloglovin and Feedly will let you import your current Google Reader list over to their sites.  I have signed up for both and am trying them out to see which I like best.

With just a little searching I came across Bloglines and also Yahoo has it's own RSS feed reader.

There are also a myriad of ways to read blogs on your mobile device or Ipad.

So, I guess you just have to find what works for you and what you like.  As far as my blog goes, you can subscribe by email, and that shouldn't change with Google Reader going away.  I've added a bloglovin button for following, if that's the reader that you choose.  If you choose Feedly, you can import your Google Reader list, or search and add websites to follow.

I had one question from a follower whether the Blogger Dashboard would go away or not.  I'm guessing not, since that's Blogger - but I can't say for sure.  I usually don't read my blogs through there, but I'm sure many people do.

Now, I haven't ever set up my blog on Facebook or on Google Plus. Mostly because I blog for fun and more steps seem like more work.  However, if there are a number of you that would be interested in seeing my posts updated on either social media source, I'll see what I can do.  I haven't gotten into Twitter, and  I don't have an Iphone, so I don't do Instagram.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I'll try to respond. Also, if you have another great reader you want to share, list that as well.

Sorry for all the words - back to sewing tomorrow!