Totally blogless
So after admitting that blogs have slid down in my priority list, and realizing that I just don’t read through them like I used to, I saw a post by Doug Belshaw that struck a chord.
I unsubscribed from every blog I subscribed to via Google Reader.
Now I’m suffering from information under-load (if there’s such a term). I feel a bit disconnected in terms of my main areas of interest: education, technology, productivity. So, reader, I need your help! Which blogs would you recommend in these areas? Are there any that you don’t miss a single post from?
Pure and simple, I can’t read them all. Nor can I subscribe to them all and just selectively read some. I really need to scale back what I subscribe to in the aggregator.
Bundled into it, people have been telling me that I’m long overdue to switch from Bloglines to Google Reader. I’ve been married to Bloglines for a long time now, but I’m ready to shake things up just a bit.
So right now, I currently subscribe to ZERO blogs. Based on what you know of me, and many of you reading know me pretty darn well, what would you recommend that I add to the list?
- I really want to like Google Reader. But I don’t.
- Day 12: Declutter Your Sidebar Part I – Blogroll Audit
- Information Overload
- Where do blogs rate?
- Yahoo mail gets RSS.
Doug Belshaw
3/24/2008
Hi Steve,
I highly recommend that you subscribe to dougbelshaw.com. Apparently it’s full of useful advice… 
Darren Draper
3/24/2008
No matter which blogs you read, the switch to Google Reader is a must.
With Google Reader, you don’t really have to subscribe to any blogs because with Friends’ shared items, the great posts rise to the top.
Jay Bennett
3/24/2008
I love the Freakonomics blog, http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/, and I just recently started reading the Everyday Sociology Blog, http://nortonbooks.typepad.com/everydaysociology/, I’ve found that it helps release my inner Sociologist. I also added a contact form to my blog!
Alfred Thompson
3/24/2008
Take a look at http://alltop.com where they set up groups of blogs. As you pass your mouse over titles it shows you the first couple of lines of the post. I’m using this to find new blogs. The Education section is quite good BTW.
Dean Shareski
3/24/2008
A friend of mine did this and ended up subscribing to basically the same blogs. If you’re stuck in twitter, try building up your list from your connections there.
Jenny
3/24/2008
Bridging Differences – it’s the one blog I would read if I were only allowed to have one.
Sue Waters
3/24/2008
I’ve thought about how you’ve changed over; but I couldn’t just left my reading behind.
Would it have been so bad to have imported your reading list from bloglines and during the process trimmed the ones you could let go? Since I agree with Dean you will probably end up reading the same blogs. Definitely as Darren points out you will get wider selection through your shared reader integration with Google Talk.
Ben
3/24/2008
The thoughts that poor from Tom Woodward’s brain always fascinate me! http://www.bionicteaching.com
Give the Ed Tech a rest, and give me wife a thrill, she’d love to know you’re reading her blog! http://www.rimestimes.net
TOTALLY hilarious blog that mimics crappy graphs, only with venn diagrams on notecards. http://www.indexed.blogspot.com/
That’s my three to recommend, enjoy Steve!
Brian Mull
3/24/2008
I love the insights of the students at http://students2oh.org/
Lee
3/25/2008
I’d recommend anything over here at the Discovery Educator Network. Not sure if you’ve had a chance to check these folks out but they’ve sure got a pulse on what’s happening in the classroom and how to reach these kids. http://community.discoveryeducation.com/blogs
This one also comes highly recommended by some very credible sources (my parents): http://www.macmomma.blogspot.com/
~Lee
bochi
3/30/2008
Couldn’t live with out TED (http://blog.ted.com/) Also, I like assortedstuff.com. Just cynical enough (in a witty way) for me. Also, I dig Netvibes as my aggregator. The I use their “webnotes” function all the time for my little notes.
ken
4/2/2008
I notice that you have a lengthy list of blogs over there on the right.
Should we be reading all of those?
I mean, you’re not.
Indexed is a giggle a graph. It’s more of a view and think. A bit different than reading.
Steve Dembo
4/2/2008
Exactly the point. I’m rebuilding that list and will be swapping it with the new one sometime soon. Pure and simple, that list hasn’t been updated for about a year and just isn’t an accurate reflection of my reading list anymore. Time to get back to basics!
Tom
4/4/2008
I did the same thing a while back. I’m slowly rebuilding with a focus on more of components that might impact my edtech use rather than edtech blogs themselves. So I’m adding pop-culture, design, presentation, and technology blogs as opposed to pure edtech blogs. I’ve got plenty of edtech that creep in but I’m looking to get outside the bubble/echo chamber.
I feel I end up with some different, not necessarily better, but different ideas. I’m hoping they challenge me in different ways and I still get plenty of edtech via what I see as aggregators (folks who read all the edtech and I look for things that bubble up through them).
My thoughts, for what they’re worth.
Tom
Clay Burell
4/23/2008
Like Dean says above, I’ve unconsciously left my Bloglines and Google Reader to molder, and morphed into a reader of Twitter links and network members’ blogs.
I also check out education.alltop.com for a quick “magazine browse” of the last five posts and intro paragraphs (conveniently pop-upped when hovered over). Then there’s Diigo groups I’ve joined, links to the last posts of commenters’ on my own blog via my Comment Luv plugin, etc.
I think the RSS reader is a casualty of new shifts – the Model T of web 2.0 already?
(PS. I just discovered you via your comment on the DJakes post – eloquent, well-written, thoughtful. I’ve known your name for a long time, but funny how the Blogoshpere has it’s neighborhoods. This is the first time I’ve visited yours. Interesting stuff.)
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