As I pointed out yesterday, the RSS feeds I’m subscribed to have
continued to expand geometrically, and trying to stay on top of them
can be likened to shooting the rapids on the Colorado River. Don’t
believe me? Take a look at my iGoogle page, which is set up in tabs for
easier reference (ha!).
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others, but as you can see in the closeup, there are 35 blogs in the
PSU tab alone.
That’s a lot of blogging.
So how to keep your head above the water? I’m thinking to start small.
First, clean house. Most of these links have been culled over
the last three years, and I am willing to bet that a number of them are
abandoned, out of date, or simply no longer a focus of my current
interests.
Second, re-add selectively. A great article I just found was from the the technotheory blog.
Third, find your must-reads. As a generalist, I’m interested in a lot of things. Some blogs, however, are key. Know what your immediate community is doing, saying, and thinking. That’s key. Then go back and fill in the cracks when you can.
Three tips. Start small. Be selective. A little focus, and some selective hearing, can dampen out a lot of that background noise.
I know what you mean … between my ETS feeds (40 of them!), my PSU People, and ITS I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 local blogs to try and keep track of. It is both wonderful and out of hand. I will say I get a little extra excited as I see my blogs from PSU light up with fresh content. One thing I would recommend is bailing on iGoogle as your primary reader. I use iGoogle to see into all sorts of things, but only keep one set of feeds present there — ETS. I live in Google Reader, which for my dollar is the top feed reading dog. The ability to put things into folders, and navigate content with such ease makes a huge difference — let alone the ability to share and star items.
You milage may vary, but that’s my advice. I also do a little pruning a few times a year — out with stuff I no longer read. Good luck!