I have been using Google Reader for quite some time and reading feeds for what seems like forever. My habits and ability to organize and plow through my feeds has changed dramatically over the years and I wanted to share my own use case and experience here.
I originally heard about the idea to organize feeds via a tiered structure where Tier 1 through Tier x are folders containing feeds in order of importance. I loved this idea because it solved the problem of “where to start” every day when I wanted to get some feed reading done. The task was a little daunting because I had 100+ feeds categorized and organized into folders and now I needed to work them into the new system.
It was well worth the effort and now my Google Reader looks like this;
This allows me to prioritize my feed reading and know what to jump into without going “feed specific” or alphabetical. Jumping into the Tier 1 folder lets me make progress with blogs of friends, contact, colleagues, and other things I am following. Tier 2 is where I go if Tier 1 is empty. This holds all the feeds that I usually do not have the time for during the day and do not feel its always important to read. Tier 3 presents feeds that fills up way too fast (like Digg) but if I find myself done with Tier 1 and Tier 2 I will tryout Tier 3. Sometimes for writing inspiration or to get a different take on a subject I will jump into Tier 3 to get some voices outside of the echo chamber.
“Research” is an interesting folder. This has everything from webmaster forums I trust to take the pulse of what is going on in the Internet world, boards where sites and domains are bought and sold, and feeds that havn’t yet been categorized.
“Search” is a number of my favorite sources in the world of SEM, SEO, and Social Media. This is a world I keep on on heavily after spending so much time with the subject. Finally, “VC’s” Represent voices in the world of venture capital.
I have found that recently I have not been adding many new feeds, and trying to cut some out by combining using other aggregation sites together. I think there is a place for both in daily usage.
I have been asked a lot recently how I process 250+ feeds – this is how I manage it. I feel like reading through feeds is something I enjoy (as opposed to a chore), much like how some people read the newspaper. I always love getting through to zero – but that is obviously not always possible. The reality is closer to a Tier 2, Tier 3 at 1000+ unread (Google Reader does not report higher unread numbers) and progress made on Tier 1.
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January 11th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Eric, very similar. I've also gotten the tiers broken down by topic. Without this, it's all clutter and I can't find anything worth reading (even though it's all the same content)
January 11th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Exactly. This way you do not play favorites to topicsauthors either – I
find that chronological order presents a great way to have certain things
appear first.
January 11th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Eric, very similar. I've also gotten the tiers broken down by topic. Without this, it's all clutter and I can't find anything worth reading (even though it's all the same content)
January 12th, 2009 at 6:13 am
This seems a bit static to me. How do you manage blogs that are getting more or less interesting for you. Do you manually move them from one tier to another? That seems like something that is hard to keep track of with this system.
January 12th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Its hard to get to tier 1 and I leave a high bar. Moving feeds around is easy and they can even live in multiple folders (which some of my feeds do) as its really just a check box in GR as folders are just categories.
The system may not work for everyone but has done very well for me.
What do you use?
January 12th, 2009 at 8:13 am
This seems a bit static to me. How do you manage blogs that are getting more or less interesting for you. Do you manually move them from one tier to another? That seems like something that is hard to keep track of with this system.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I'm using topics instead, but I'm not really satisfied with that system and I am looking for another way to organize feeds. I might give your system a try. It's a shame one can't have multiple levels in Google Reader or can you?. I would like to have topics as the top level and tiers under there.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I would love this feature as well. I actually tried it too, and could not figure it out. There is technically no reason as everything is treated as a “label” but I am not sure why we cannot do this in Google Reader.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:38 am
What google reader really needs is something to either make use of an rss items categories as tags or some form of saveable search feature. That way you can create a folder that has all the items about one topic no matter what feed it's from. I've been dinking around with this for a few years and it works out great for me.
January 12th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I think that is why they have the ability to put multiple items within
different categories. Do you use Google Reader now? If something else, what
works best for you?
January 12th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I used Newsgator for a long while but started to get overwhelmed and annoyed at reading the same news across multiple feeds. So, I built my own and annotated the development on this blog, http://www.tubejumper.com/. The app isn't pretty but I'm not a graphics person, just a coder. I've been wanting to move what i've built to python/php/mysql and open source it but just haven't had the time.
January 12th, 2009 at 11:20 am
I'm using topics instead, but I'm not really satisfied with that system and I am looking for another way to organize feeds. I might give your system a try. It's a shame one can't have multiple levels in Google Reader or can you?. I would like to have topics as the top level and tiers under there.
January 12th, 2009 at 11:28 am
I would love this feature as well. I actually tried it too, and could not figure it out. There is technically no reason as everything is treated as a “label” but I am not sure why we cannot do this in Google Reader.
January 12th, 2009 at 11:38 am
What google reader really needs is something to either make use of an rss items categories as tags or some form of saveable search feature. That way you can create a folder that has all the items about one topic no matter what feed it's from. I've been dinking around with this for a few years and it works out great for me.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
hi eric – I recently went through a major reorganization of Reader (when I found myself with 1000+ unread items). I divided by a tier structure – Must Reads and then a secondary folder. I also used PostRank (formerly AideRSS) to limit the number of posts from some of the blogs in the secondary folder. This way I just get the “best” posts for those blogs. I wrote a post on my reorganization in December – and since then I have kept my Reader under 100 unread items!
January 12th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I used Newsgator for a long while but started to get overwhelmed and annoyed at reading the same news across multiple feeds. So, I built my own and annotated the development on this blog, http://www.tubejumper.com/. The app isn't pretty but I'm not a graphics person, just a coder. I've been wanting to move what i've built to python/php/mysql and open source it but just haven't had the time.
January 12th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
hi eric – I recently went through a major reorganization of Reader (when I found myself with 1000+ unread items). I divided by a tier structure – Must Reads and then a secondary folder. I also used PostRank (formerly AideRSS) to limit the number of posts from some of the blogs in the secondary folder. This way I just get the “best” posts for those blogs. I wrote a post on my reorganization in December – and since then I have kept my Reader under 100 unread items!
January 12th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I like the PostRank tip – I will have to try it out. Keeping things under 100 is a goal of mine as well.
January 12th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I like the PostRank tip – I will have to try it out. Keeping things under 100 is a goal of mine as well.
January 14th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Awesome. Let me know how it goes.
January 14th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I reorganized my entire Google Reader along this method. Thanks Eric!
January 14th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Awesome. Let me know how it goes.
January 14th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
I reorganized my entire Google Reader along this method. Thanks Eric!
January 17th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Thanks for the post! I've giving this a try and am really liking this new org structure. Its much better than my 75 haphazard folders. Have you tried the post rank yet? i'm wondering how people use it and how they like using it.
January 17th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Not yet other than just trying it out with my own feed. I heard its a good way to lower feeds quantity as I feel I am always adding without taking away. Glad the system is working for you too.
January 17th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Thanks for the post! I've giving this a try and am really liking this new org structure. Its much better than my 75 haphazard folders. Have you tried the post rank yet? i'm wondering how people use it and how they like using it.
January 17th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Not yet other than just trying it out with my own feed. I heard its a good way to lower feeds quantity as I feel I am always adding without taking away. Glad the system is working for you too.
January 17th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I think in a world where content is king – context is important but RSS delivers the meat of why you visit a site. It continues to be a great delivery vehicle and I would be lost without it. Its also a great equalizer as presenting just text is a great way to distill down what is important without distractions.
January 17th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Good read. I was wondering how to manage all the stuff I've been into by RSS. That's a way for sure. For me the question still remains: why RSS is good? I love to visit sites, and see visually if something changes. RSS gives you the latest news but it does not update you if the blogger changes WordPress theme, design scheme etc. Anyway, it is still unsolved how do I manage those tons of sites I want to be informed of. I wrote about this problem on my site here: http://barnabasnagy.net/2008/12/25/im-checking-... – got no response yet. Thanks for the topic update.
January 17th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I think in a world where content is king – context is important but RSS delivers the meat of why you visit a site. It continues to be a great delivery vehicle and I would be lost without it. Its also a great equalizer as presenting just text is a great way to distill down what is important without distractions.
January 17th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Good read. I was wondering how to manage all the stuff I've been into by RSS. That's a way for sure. For me the question still remains: why RSS is good? I love to visit sites, and see visually if something changes. RSS gives you the latest news but it does not update you if the blogger changes WordPress theme, design scheme etc. Anyway, it is still unsolved how do I manage those tons of sites I want to be informed of. I wrote about this problem on my site here: http://barnabasnagy.net/2008/12/25/im-checking-... – got no response yet. Thanks for the topic update.
January 18th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Hey Eric –
I subscribe to dozens of RSS feeds in my Google Reader. I don’t know about you, but it gets a little overwhelming for me when Google Reader tells me I have 1000+ unread items. Google Reader is like a second inbox…no one needs another overflowed inbox to manage.
I've been brainstorming a solution — a social feed reader (social computing). RSS subscribes me to content. I want to subscribe to information / an engaging conversation on the web.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. What would you want in a social feed reader / reader 2.0? Do you find that people are frustrated with their inability to effectively manage overloaded feed readers?
January 19th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Hey Eric –
I subscribe to dozens of RSS feeds in my Google Reader. I don’t know about you, but it gets a little overwhelming for me when Google Reader tells me I have 1000+ unread items. Google Reader is like a second inbox…no one needs another overflowed inbox to manage.
I've been brainstorming a solution — a social feed reader (social computing). RSS subscribes me to content. I want to subscribe to information / an engaging conversation on the web.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. What would you want in a social feed reader / reader 2.0? Do you find that people are frustrated with their inability to effectively manage overloaded feed readers?
January 19th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I definitely agree. It would be great to see an aggregate view of what
everyone is reading – something only Google Reader or Newsgator has the data
to do. I am happy to brainstorm this further – you can reach me at eric
(AT) marketing .fm
January 19th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I definitely agree. It would be great to see an aggregate view of what
everyone is reading – something only Google Reader or Newsgator has the data
to do. I am happy to brainstorm this further – you can reach me at eric
(AT) marketing .fm
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:52 am
That makes a great deal of sense. helps me to prioritize what I am doing as well. If I am looking for ideas I go to the folder for that. If I just want to check in or find out what is going on in one of my niches I am following I get straight too it. I was just plowing through it before. Thanks for saving me about an hour a day.
creative artistic nomad
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:52 am
That makes a great deal of sense. helps me to prioritize what I am doing as well. If I am looking for ideas I go to the folder for that. If I just want to check in or find out what is going on in one of my niches I am following I get straight too it. I was just plowing through it before. Thanks for saving me about an hour a day.
creative artistic nomad
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:07 am
No problem. I hope it does save that much time for me too.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:07 am
No problem. I hope it does save that much time for me too.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
That makes a great deal of sense. helps me to prioritize what I am doing as well. If I am looking for ideas I go to the folder for that. If I just want to check in or find out what is going on in one of my niches I am following I get straight too it. I was just plowing through it before. Thanks for saving me about an hour a day.
creative artistic nomad
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
No problem. I hope it does save that much time for me too.