RSS
I blogged over at Common Centsability today about how I am making some Organizational Changes regarding how I follow many blogs. You see, I am overwhelmed. My email inbox has over 2,000+ messages alone. I am trying to be more organized, and I have to make some changes to get things under control.I need to adjust my personal blog subscription method so that it’s easier for me to engage with the blogs I read.
How am I doing that? Well, there are many different blogs that I enjoy reading and following, but with so much going on, I haven’t been able to interact as much as I’d like to. I used to subscribe via email to all blogs I wanted to follow closely so I wouldn’t miss anything. But, as you can see by my inbox number, that isn’t working so well.
I decided I’d start following most via Google Reader, because that has worked for me in the past. I opened my Reader, and was shocked to see that I follow over 1800+ blogs – some multiple times. It seems that when GFC (Google Friend Connect) made changes, it imported all those feeds to the Readers. My first step was to unfollow any duplicates. Then, I am slowly working my way through checking each blog and deleting those with NO updates, whose feed is inactive. Finally, I am clicking through each to see if it’s a blog I want to actively read and engage. If yes, I am categorizing them, if no, I am unsubscribing.
Please don’t be offended if you see me unsubscribe via email. I am checking to make sure that I follow via RSS when I do that 
My goal is not to offend anyone by unsubscribing, I just need to get my list more manageable so I am following those that I most closely relate to via RSS so I can be an active and engaged reader, who is supporting you and sharing your content.
When I see posts I really enjoy, I want to be able to Comment, Pin, Stumble, G+, Tweet, and like on Facebook so that others interested in those topics can find them too.
My goal is to eventually get all of my social media sites organized with lists, etc so I can manage them better.
As for my own blogs, I am working hard to get more niche oriented. Keeping posts that fit the various niche’s on those blogs so they can be directed towards those interested in those topics.
I thank all of you who regularly read and follow me! It is greatly appreciated If you have a blog of your own, I’d love for you to leave a link so we can all check it out.
Update: I’d like to share with y’all that this arrangement is helping me SO much! My inbox is no longer stressing me out, and I am actually finding it easier to INTERACT with many blogs that I am subscribed to via RSS! I still have some that I follow via GFC that I need to unsubscribe and then resubscribe via RSS so my Google Reader is more organized, but this may be one of the best changes I have made for myself this year!
Tags: RSS
I understand. I have tons of blogs I follow via email. My blog is at http://dreesthings.blogspot.com/
Thanks for stopping by! I popped over to make sure you were added to my Google Reader. It’s working out so much better for me following RSS, I am not missing posts, and my email is so much easier to manage
I spent incredible effort eliminating the duplicates and inactive listings in my google reader. Still there are just too many to keep up with so I came to terms with using it as an invaluable reference library. If I’m looking for posts on a particular subject, searching in google reader limits results to ‘my’ blogs. It really works well.
I keep up with blogs via email subscriptions to my main account. Blogs that I consistently delete updates without ever visiting the site, are quickly unsubscribed as cluttering my inbox.
Current Unsubscribe method: Go to this link and scroll to bottom right corner. There is a graph Subscription Trends and you can click on INACTIVE. You then get a list showing blogs that have not updated since a given date. there is a trash can symbol allowing easy deletion of these inactive blogs
http://www.google.com/reader/view/#trends-page
Duplicates in your list can be clicked on and then click on Feed Settings across the top bar. In the drop down menu is Unsubscribe.
Thanks for this post. I’m in the same boat as you – following so many blogs, but having so little time. I’ve hesitated to unfollow, but will use your example and migrate to google reader, and regain control over my inbox.
I completely understand about this. I get hundreds of updates each day and really need to go through my GFC list to get rid of some blogs that are no longer posting. I have noticed that some no longer have the follow box so I am trying to figure out how to unfollow those.