After all these years I’ve finally given in and started using a feed reader. I know, I know. I’m slow. The main reason it has taken me so long to switch to using a feed reader rather than just bookmarking my favorite blogs is because I honestly have not been impressed with any of the feed readers available. It seems that everytime I opened up my reader I was bombarded with updates, and me being the obsessive person that I am couldn’t allow any story to go unread. I lost a lot of time.
After doing a bit of searching, however, I’ve found a feed reader that I actually like: Netvibes. Netvibes is more than just a feed reader, it’s a dynamic homepage. The main thing I’m using it for, however, is to organize and read my feeds. Now I have all of my nerdy blog updates, music news, and football news in one location.
Another great reason why I’m using Netvibes over other readers is the small aesthetic touches. I know it’s probably a minor point to most people but the little tab icons and the window color-coding pretty much sold the site for me. The way I have my page setup now is with my most-read feeds up top in red with my less-read feeds underneath in blue or gray.
I may finally have been sold on the delicious use of feeds, at least in the way that they’re used on a site like Netvibes. Having all of my reading in one location as well as email updates, my twitter feed, a to-do list, and a sexy calendar is what web 2.0 is all about. There are many other services similar to Netvibes out there, but this is by far my favorite personal homepage.