Do you like reading blogs? Ever run across a blog while traipsing about the Internet and bookmark it, telling yourself you’ll read it later, only to forget about it?
Before throwing your hands up in disgust — and your laptop out the window — try one of these multitasking solutions.
Popular among Gmail users due to its ease of use, Google Reader is a clean and simple blog reader. Blogs can be categorized with as many labels needed, or all the feeds can be read together.
Bloglines appears fancier than Google Reader, with drag-and-drop categorizing, several viewing options and additional widgets. In September 2010, there was a rumor floating around that Bloglines would close down, causing many users to jump ship for more stable readers. However, Bloglines continues to be a viable option for blog reading.
Bloglovin is relatively new on the scene, founded in 2007, but has gained wide popularity with its interface free of bells and whistles. Bloglovin caters to arts and design blogs, with a heavy concentration on fashion blogs. The Bloglovin Awards debuted this year, highlighting some of the best blogs in categories such as Best Street Style Blog and Blogger of the Year.
Feedly, powered by Google Reader and Twitter, is a unique take on blog reading. It is billed as an online content reader — and not just for blogs. It has unique features such as Feedly Mini, a small pop-up window that allows you to add a website to your Feedly collection, see similar web sites, or share the link via Facebook or Twitter. For social media enthusiasts, Feedly should be given extra consideration.
Founded in July 2010, Activorous is still in its Beta stage. Activorous works with any website, not just RSS or Atom feeds. On the display, posts are listed by how interesting they are to the reader. This interest level is determined based on your reading habits and ratings of content. Reviews of Activorous have been generally good, and its future looks promising.
Reach the reporter at dkmcinty@asu.edu
