Why I use Bloglines as my default RSS reader
Choosing a decent RSS reader to browse and read your favourite
RSS feeds was not a straight forward task. I tried and tested
many different windows desktop readers but I ended up
uninstalling them for one reason or another. Then I found
Bloglines and I am pleased to say I have not yet been
disappointed with it.
The reason I need a decent RSS reader is that I spend a lot of
time reading feeds. I run an RSS resource website http://www.newsniche.com/
which means I have to keep up to date with all things RSS.
Naturally I have come across many RSS readers but have found
them always to be lacking in one thing or another. In my
research I came across Bloglines which is a web based
reader.
It's a shame Bloglines does not have an affiliate program as I
would love to promote it, purely because it is such a great
tool. Unfortunately for me but fortunately for you this tool is
free and everybody loves free internet tools. The main reason I
am writing this is because I feel I need to give something back
to Bloglines and I also want you to benefit from such a great
RSS reader.
Lets start by looking at the main benefits of using Bloglines.
Firstly it is fast to use. Now usually web based tools are a lot
slower than there desktop counterparts, in this case because
Bloglines has a cache of feeds because of its large user base
the feeds are already on the Bloglines server. With desktop
reader you would have to download the feeds when you start up
your reader, if you subscribe to a lot of feeds like me then you
will end up waiting a long time.
As it is a popular web based reader you have the advantage of
the social side of RSS. There is a directory of all the feeds it
there readers have subscribed to and if the reader chooses to
make their list of RSS feeds public you can see what everyone
else is reading. Another great spin off from this is the ability
to see how many Bloglines users are subscribed to each feed.
As you know everything has its down side and Bloglines is no
exception. The main negative is that if Bloglines is ever down
then you will not be able to access your feeds. Now this is
certainly a big potential problem especially if you really
heavily on being able to have access to your feeds. Since I have
been a user I have as yet not experienced any down time. As a
precaution you can export your RSS feed list as an OPML file so
you can import into another RSS reader should Bloglines go belly
up or experience any serious down time.
I am happy to say Bloglines is a tool I would
gladly recommend to an RSS user. It is easy to setup, easy to
use and it is at the moment totally free. So why not try it, I
promise you that you will quickly become addicted and you will
be checking your feeds more than your email