Are You In My Niche Blog Network?

The title is a joke, but I am kind of serious too. I’ll explain… I am kind of old school. I took me a long time to get used to the new ways of surfing the Internet, if that is even still a term now a days. In today’s Internet world we have blogs that syndicate a broadcast signal called an RSS feed. This signal gets picked up by radio receivers (aka your Google Reader, Bloglines, etc.) and basically, you’re supposed to subscribe to the RSS feed that you like, such as making a favorite play list in TIVO.

The old school way is doing what I am having trouble breaking free from, surfing the Internet aimlessly like a blooming idiot. I’ll admit, Google Reader and other RSS readers are great! Nothing wrong with them one bit… but I just can’t get used to them, I’ve tried. My favorite way of subscribing to an RSS feed is when the author offers the email notification service within FeedBurner.

Not every blog that I enjoy reading offers that service, heck for that matter, not every blog I read offers their feed in FeedBurner. So how do I deal with these issues? How do I deal with being subjected to a new school world of RSS feeds and content syndication? Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Well, I am all about solutions and I am all about paving the path to MY USER experience. I don’t like systems and trends that try to shape or mold me, I’ve been like that for a long time, call me a rebel, call me what you will… I do things the way I want, when I want. When it comes to surfing the Internet, collecting and reading information, this behavior kind of follows suit.

Granted, I am with you, I am on the same page… I know RSS readers are the bomb, etc… I just don’t like them. The solution is simple. I have made my own RSS reader and it resides right here on my blog. This RSS reader is a syndicated RSS mashup of my favorite blogs.

This mashup basically lists the most recent posts from my favorite blogs. It displays a total of 25 posts at any giving time and the newest posts published are always on the top.

To help me keep track of the posts I have read, I use BLUE links that indicate unread posts and PURPLE links that indicate posts that I have already viewed.

To me, that is perfect. That is all I want and this will help me stay organized with keeping track of the blogs I enjoy reading. There are many reasons why I have created this mashup, most of the reasons are listed above. However, an additional reason is this:

Typically, subscribing to new RSS feeds come a dime a dozen. With a click of the mouse, you can instantly subscribe to an RSS feed and then you’re off. This really gets generic because one can easily dilute their RSS reader with tons of content that might not really be truly important. One of the reasons why I enjoy my RSS mashup is the fact that it is rather a lengthy process to add a new RSS feed. So for me, in order to subscribe to a RSS feed, it has to be really worth my time and effort to do so.

If I like the RSS feed enough to feel compelled to hard code it into my mashup, then it really must be a good RSS feed. I don’t see any point in subscribing to an RSS feed unless you’re truly going to read the constantly updating content. There is no point to filling up your Google Reader with posts that you’ll never read. I believe that is where bookmarks come in.

Bookmark sites that you think are cool and then subscribe to the feeds of the sites that you really enjoy and have time to read on a regular basis.

My RSS mashup of my favorite blogs has actually been up and running for awhile. I have had it in various places on the site depending on the theme. Today I have assigned it a new URL home and I want to invite you to check it out.

For one, you can see a very small snippet of it on my sidebar. I display the five most recent posts from my favorite blogs on my sidebar. Only the post title links are displayed. Directly below the five most recent post titles is a link that says READ FULL LIST. This will link you to the full 25 post list of the most recent articles of my favorite blogs.

Are you in my Niche Blog Network? Good question… I guess you’ll have to read my mashup and find out. Just in case you’re wondering, there is no way people can buy their way into this list. There is nothing you can do or say to be included for a fee or exchange. The only way you can be added to this list is if your blog becomes something I read on a regular basis.

I also feel that my readers will enjoy reading the blogs that I enjoy and that is the reason why I have made my list public and not private. So, if you are curious to discover the blogs that I read, feel free to jump over to my list of favorite blogs and check them out.

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Tags: Blog Niche Networks, Blog Niches, Favorite Blogs, Favorite RSS Feeds, Popular Blog Niches, RSS Feeds, RSS Mashups, RSS Readers, RSS Syndication