After being so very far behind in reading blog posts in Oct (1000+ unread posts), I've finally caught up.
Seriously like 2 mins ago when I read the very last post queued in my reader. My reader currently says 0. Yay!
I'm sure I'll get behind again but it feels good to be caught up for the moment :)
I have a lot of blogs in my reader (225 actually) and earlier this year I categorized them all because of a question posed by a fellow blogger about how many blogs is too many to follow and comment on regularly.
My categories are:
Dormant (haven't posted in months or ended) - 40
No Comment (blogs I like to read but I very rarely or never comment on. Things like popular "mommy blogs", food or fitness blogs, humor blogs, etc.) - 75
Comment (blogs I sometimes comment on) - 47
New (blogs I've recently added to my reader and have not decided what category they should go into yet) - 25
The final category is for bloggers I feel I have a "connection" with. They read my blog (can be often or rarely) and/or "follow" me and I make a special effort to follow their blogs in detail and comment as often as possible. There are 38 in this category.
Does this sound bad? I hope not.
I do it this way so I can keep this crazy hobby manageable :) Some blogs I look at like a magazine - I read and am interested but I'm probably not going to write a letter to the editor. Some blogs I look at like a FB update from a long lost classmate - I might comment, I might not, it depends on the subject and how much time I have at the moment. And some blogs I look at like a phone call from a friend - I listen, try to understand, commiserate, cry with them, rejoice with them, and reply.
My categories are very dynamic. Blogs are moved around often due to adding subscriptions, moving abandoned blogs to "dormant", and connections with the individuals behind the blogs that I read changing. The connection doesn't have to be profound, sometimes it's even one-sided, but these are the blogs I reserve most of my time for.
When I have 1000+ unread blogs, it's so easy to quickly read the "no comment" blogs in a few minutes. It's very easy to skim and skip over posts that don't look interesting in this category. The posts that build up into gigantic piles are the ones that I want to spend my time reading and commenting on.
For anyone reading this: Do you have a system like this? How do you manage all the blogs you follow?
I have no system, however after reading yours I think I should !!! Good for you for playing catch up !
ReplyDeleteI love this system. How do you categorize in Google Reader?
ReplyDeleteTo categorize, you have to create folders, which you can do through the "manage subscriptions" tool. For me, the link for "manage subscriptions" is at the bottom of my blog list. Once you click on that, click on the "Add to a folder" drop down menu to the right of one of your subscribed blogs - at the bottom should be a "New folder..." option.
ReplyDeleteAfter you've created the folders you want, you can go back to the blog list on the main reader page and drag them around to organize.
Great organization system - I'm way impressed! Must do that soon...
ReplyDeleteI don't have a system in place but I definitely have the same kind of different relationship to the blogs I read. Need categories. Now. :)
ReplyDeleteOoh. I like your system. Very streamlined. That's a good idea. Often, I'll leave posts unread because I really have something I'd like to say, but I don't have time to comment, and then, the posts just sit there, and eventually, I get embarrassed because whatever I had to say is *SO* behind the times that it's pointless, but then I feel bad NOT commenting on something that I really did want to comment on, and thus, I end up like you with 1000 posts to read. Sigh. I just need to be honest and move some blogs to the "read but don't comment" category, I think.
ReplyDeleteI don't have mine organised but I have been meaning to. I like your categories and may copy them. Thanks :-)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that some people have over 200 blog they follow LOL and I thought I had alot! I need to add some I think!!
ReplyDeleteI read every day, so don't tend to have the problem of posts building up but I do have blogs that are the ones I check first!
~x~
Holy cow, this is genius. Well, now I have to figure out how to do this... You rock!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the info on how!! Doing this today!
ReplyDeleteI organize mine with categories related to TTC and/or if they're pregnant. I have an IRL friend category, TTC, Pregnant/Baby and then a Fun/Other category which includes food blogs, popular mommy blogs, money saving blogs, Postsecret, etc.
ReplyDeleteThat way, if I only have a few minutes, I can click on the ones that I feel like reading most!
What?! I didn't know they could be organized!
ReplyDeleteSo I do not have a system to manage the blogs I read but I will by the end of the week :) Thanks so much for writing about this!
I don't have a system - and it's becoming unmanagealbe. I lose blogs I want to follow and sometimes have trouble finding my closest blog buddies in all the others I read and rarely comment on. I might steal your categories and see how I go!
ReplyDeleteI am totally impressed with your system! I tried to figure out how to organize my reader, but ultimately failed. I try to read thru all the posts that are in my reader once a week or so, but don't succeed at that either.
ReplyDeleteI do stay up to date reading and commenting on the blogs that I have on my blogroll posted on my blog. I have a little coding system that i use to keep track of who is pregnant, who has a little one, and who has/is using donor gametes. I also like to focus my comments on blogs that don't have a ton of commenters already.
I am going to try your system... Great post!
I can completely identify with that freeing feeling of having no unread posts in your reader, so well done!!!
ReplyDeleteYour categorising system is awesome! I do categorise mine, but it's more in the typical pregnant/ttc/parent categories. I like your system A LOT.
:)
Oh crap - no, I don't have a system and I now I have blog system envy!! My husband won't believe that someone out there has a system and I don't - quick, I am going to wake him up and tell him!!
ReplyDelete