Friday Question #93
How do you find new blogs to read and what makes you subscribe to a blog? Or is your feed reader maxed out with “no vacancies”?
I love having a lot of blogs to read. I spend 2.5+ hours on the train on weekdays and it keeps me entertained.
And I feel like I have been finding a lot of great ones lately! My method on finding new blogs is by reading the comments on the other blogs I subscribe to (when I have time or the topic is really something I want to see what people are saying about)… if someone is saying something I can relate to, I go check out their blog. And often, when I am there, I may find links to other blogs I may enjoy. Sometimes, I can’t even remember how I ended up at a blog in the first place!
The first thing I do when I go to a new blog is check out their “About” page. Then I usually check out their writing style and see if the topics they talk about interest me. If they do, I put their blog in a “TBD” folder in my reader to check out for awhile and see if enjoy their blog.
Of course, from time to time, I get new commenters, and I always go check out their blog as well, and often, I end up subscribing.
I go through phases where I am looking for new blogs to read, just for fun, and then I go through phases where I cannot stay caught up with reader, and am not looking at all. And of course, I continually purge – I unsubscribe to those that ended up not suiting my taste. If I didn’t do that, I would get way too overwhelmed. Reading blogs is supposed to be fun, after all!
I have been continually updating my blogroll, and may move it to its own page at some point in time. I’ll keep you posted. (Does anyone else look at blogrolls besides me?)
Themocracy
Hi Kim, I never subscribe and I haven’t figured out the google reader thing. How do you use it? I love blog rolls and use them all the time. I love the about me page too, it’s so important. At this point, I’m overwhelmed with all the blogs that I read as I spend hours catching up. There has got to be a better way.
.-= Author’s last blog post… It’s been ages…. =-.
Hi Lindsay. I think if you use google reader, it will really help! I know it helped for me! Google reader is kind of like email for blogs – it gets updated every time someone updates their blog. You can manually enter the blogs you want to read into it, or subscribe on people’s websites. You log in to it like you do with email, then you see which blogs have been updated. You can mark them as read, keep them unread to read later, email them to your friends, star them so you can easily get back to them, and so on. There are a lot of settings that I am still figuring out. I have all of my blogs in folders in there, so I know what to read first. I have “daily” folders that I try to get to every day (“running daily,” “health daily,” etc.) and I have “maybe” folders that I get to when I can, and “TBD” folders for new blogs I am checking out. Does this make sense? My blogger friends had to explain it to me a few years ago, but after I started using it, I was so much happier! Let me know if you need help setting it up. There are other feed readers out there as well, I just use google.
And I love it when people take time to have an “About Me” page. I think mine might need a bit of updating!
I pretty much do the same . . . link from comments to comments to comments . . .
I will second Google Reader — it makes blog reading so much easier. You don’t have to go to each individual site to check for something new In fact, I only go to the original site if I want to make a comment (like now).
I check out the blogs of people who comment on my blogs, people who comment on blogs I follow, and also check out the suggestions on Google Reader (it suggests blogs similar to the ones you read). Plus I check out blogs that other bloggers i like link to in their posts.
If I read a few posts and think I’d like the blog, I subscribe in Google Reader. It’s easy to unsubscribe if it turns out that I don’t like the blog. So I pick up and drop subscriptions a lot.
I don’t feel like I have to read all the blogs every day but it’s fun to see what people are up to. I mostly follow health/fitness and food blogs.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Meeting hopping again =-.
We’re pretty similar with how we troll for new blogs. When I first started blogging, I used blogrolls to find new blogs. But, once I had a steady stream of “regulars,” then I stopped looking at blogrolls (which tell you nothing about the blog you’re going to visit) and rely more on links within posts and comments. I don’t even have a blogroll on my blog anymore … I decided if I couldn’t keep it up to date, then I’d be hurting the feelings of people I’m reading regularly, and therefore I shouldn’t have a blogroll at all. Plus, my original intent for a blogroll was to read other people’s blogs … once I started using Google Reader, that no longer became necessary.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Replay =-.
I do a few things – I read comments, I like blogrolls that put the persons last post title (or a snippit) because you can decide whether or not to go check them out based on what they are doing. I also blog search a lot – like when I had an injury I tried to find others with the same, when I had a baby I looked for runners who had babies, etc. I try to find people with similar interests to me, or those who simply just entertain me 🙂
.-= Author’s last blog post… I Blame McDonalds For My Suffering =-.
I have two sets of blogs I read: Ones on my reader and ones on my blogroll. The ones on my blog roll get updated almost bi-weekly and they are the blogs I feel are written by people I have made connections with. These are the people who frequently comment on my blog and in some cases have emailed with me. On my reader are blogs I like…divided into folders from those on my blogroll and those not on my blogroll.
I generally find new blogs through other commenters. I gravitate towards running and triathlon blogs but have a few random ones I read as well. I feel like some people read every single blog there is out there and for me, that is just too much. At the same time, if I make an effort to comment on a blog, especially with a question, and they do not respond, I usually do not make continuous efforts. There are quite a few cliques out there in blogland and I am not interested in being a part of one.
Additionally, there are just some blogs that do not interest me…either the person or the way they write or the material. And I am sure there are people who see my blog and it does not interest them. That is the beauty of blogging. There really is something for everyone.
Great question!
.-= Author’s last blog post… 2010 Goals-Tri’s, Running and Working Out =-.
I use Google Reader for everything…if someone doesn’t have a feed, I rarely remember to go to his or her site. Generally I find new blogs through another blog…if I like a comment someone has made, etc. Also, the Google Reader sharing feature has pointed me in the directions of great blogs. Twitter is another place where I find blogs and last but not least, random people who find me and comment on MY blog.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Snackie Thursday: “Don’t Make Me Catch A Case!” =-.
I’ve used a few traffic-boosting services to find blogs to read; Entrecard being the best, if only they didn’t start forcing adverts down our throats. Since I quit it, I’ve not gone beyond those blogs I already follow. I do follow a lot already, though.
I’ve pretty much moved to using GoogleReader. My blogroll was becoming just too unwieldy, and blogrolling at one time for down for so long I couldn’t see who had recently posted anything so had to go visit every one. Yikes.
The drawback to using GoogleReader is you get just the post; you don’t see it in the context of the site itself. Of course, if the content is good / commentable, I’ll click over to leave a comment, and therefore re-experience the glory of template.
I do maintain blogrolls on my two today.com blogs, more for link-building and an attempt at getting my PageRank up: I rarely visit from there. On my main/personal blog, I got rid of the blogroll per se, and instead feature a list of “we’ve met!” bloggers instead: I figure why not give an extra boost to them 🙂
.-= Author’s last blog post… Guantánamo news affecting Illinois and Switzerland =-.
Google reader makes reading blogs so much easier and fun. I love your idea of a TBD folder – I think I need to steal that!
Right now most of my blogs are in one huge ‘running’ folder and I need to go through and purge some – or put them in a ‘probation’ folder for determination, haha!
and 2.5 hours on the train is a looong time, no wonder you find such interesting mag articles!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Three Things Thursday =-.
I find all my new blogs through comments. I think that is how I found you because of something you wrote as a comment that interested me so I had to see who you were.
I use my blogroll to remember to read the blogs I read regularly. Unfortunately I suck at updating the list so I just have to remember who has a link to the blog I am looking for or google it to find it again. I probably should just use google reader…it would certainly save time for me.
I am usually looking for people who write well, are witty and write about things I can relate to. And people I can learn something from.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Winter Boost =-.
I do the same as you…Look for comments on other people’s blogs and then check them out if I feel like we can relate. I’m trying to cut down on the number of blogs I read because I don’t like spending HOURS each day reading them. I’ve been marking many food blogs as read…they can get out of control if each person posts three times per day! I need to make a “must read” section on my google reader.
.-= Author’s last blog post… running nurses are the best =-.
Oh Google Reader – what would blogland do without it 😛
When someone comments on my blog, or I find a blog that l think looks interesting, I usually just subscribe. Then every month or so I “purge” or take off the ones that I’m not really interested in and add whichever ones have still kept my interest to my blog roll. And I definitely agree that having an about me section is a good thing – otherwise I’m stuck trying to search for the first few posts the person did to see if they give any background info to help me understand where they’re coming from.
I also go through times where all I want to do is find new blogs – and then I’ll click on other people’s blog rolls to see if anything looks interesting. Other times though, I’m super busy and am more picky with which blogs I will read than usual!
Good question Kim!
.-= Author’s last blog post… I had so much to tell you, but it never came to words =-.
Since I am a relatively new blogger (2 mo now) I don’t have my google reader set up which I will be doing next week while on vacation 🙂
I do the same thing, read the comments on posts that I am interested and if the comment is also interesting then I check out the blog and follow it for a bit until I figure out how I like. I do definitely check other’s blog roll to see if I find a blog that I find interesting. I do most of my blog reading at work, since we are very slow right now. So I am constantly checking out new blogs. If a blog is on my blog roll is because I read it everyday…
Good question, I had been wondering about this myself 🙂
When new people comment on my blog, I always check theirs out. If I like it, I add it to my reader. I also look through people’s blog rolls. I typically look at blogs with funny names first. 🙂
OH, and thanks for adding my new url to your blogroll!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Big Changes! =-.
Like most of the comments, I use google reader. I find my through recommendations as well as other bloggers. Thought I admit I tend to lurk more these days than comment!
I LOVE me some Google Reader! I think I would be totally overwhelmed had I not discovered it’s power – which was ironically through Kath’s blog after starting to read other food blogs. I definitely find new blogs either through comments or through bloggers that I really enjoy reading, and then start to follow their “friends” too. It’s really cool how people sort of run in different blogging circles, but that it’s all reciprical blogging love!
Your system is so thorough – I love it!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Turntable Tuesday =-.
When I first started I just blog-hopped and started commenting like crazy hoping to get some readers. Now my google reader is pretty full so if I see one that really interests me or have new commenters, I’ll do like you and add them to the reader and follow for a week or two before deciding to commit to adding them to the favorites folder. Then every couple months I go through and purge the ones that are inactive, that I don’t relate to the posts for some reason, or ones who never return the favor and comment on my blog. I feel like blogs are a relationship of sorts and don’t really care to maintain one-sided ones. Have a great weekend!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Three Things Thursday =-.
I pretty much use the same method. I definitely go through periods of time when I can spend a lot of time reading blogs, and then periods where I have to miss out for a few weeks– and then I feel like SO much time has passed when I can finally start reading again and catch up!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Welcome to Seattle! =-.
I don’t know where I’d be without Google Reader. Catching up from posts that are several months old, perhaps??
I do pretty much the same as you. I LOVE to find new blogs, but sometimes I have a hard time “unsubscribing” to certain blogs I don’t read anymore! (Catholic guilt). It starts to get overwhelming when I get so much in my Reader, but it’s nice to have something to do at work. You know, besides just work. 😉
.-= Author’s last blog post… Just Breathe =-.
Well, pretty typical to all the other people.
I have a variety of blogs, if I go to blog events and meet folks that I like I’ll follow them as well. (My issue is that I love to comment – hence the blog reading thing can take forever.)
I love the Shared stuff on the Google reader — I get stuff that way… (And if you comment on my blog, odds are I’ll swing by and check you out too.)
.-= Author’s last blog post… The Great Interview Project — Rhea’s Reality =-.
I love the idea of a “TBD” folder. I need to get on that!
I think I’m pretty typical in terms of finding new blogs to read. It was difficult when I first started blogging and didn’t really know where to begin. Now I find out about different blogs primarily through blogs I subscribe to, either via comments, blogrolls or links within a blog post. I also check out the comments of new people who have found and commented on my blog. My Reader is chock full sometimes, so every month or two I purge subscriptions that no longer hold my interest for one reason or another.
I use Google Reader, too, but with a spin. My home page at work and at home is an iGoogle page in which you can embed your choice of gadgets. So in addition to the Google search bar, time/date, weather, and BBC News articles, I also have my Google Reader with health/fitness blogs. So when people post new things, they show up at the bottom of my home page. So if you have ever wondered why I respond to posts so speedily, it is because they pop up in my face!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Diving Face First into a Cupcake =-.
Wow. A ton of comments already today. Nice.
I normally will read other blogs and look for people’s comments and the comment luv sharing function to read other blogs.
Granted, I’m so far behind in regularly reading other’s blogs (not to mention actually posting my own new blog entries) that adding to what I already have in my list is overwhelming. But I am always looking for cool people to read, so adding isn’t a problem.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Tis The Season for Penguins =-.
I find blogs pretty randomly, a lot of the time I don’t know how I even got there! I usually look at what the blogs I follow are following and take it from there, but I’m still a newbie! I have my Google reader sort of set up but I’m not completely sure how it works yet.
Also, I wanted to thank you for comment about starting up a website! I will definitely be emailing you questions over my break once we get started on it. Your husband’s site looks amazing! Thanks so much!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Christmas Spirit =-.
I already commented, but just wanted to tell you– I love your new header pic!
.-= Author’s last blog post… A Tale of Two Hummuses =-.
DUH! Maybe that is why I have lost some bloggy joy of late—I need to update my blogroll. I tend to feel guilty for purging blogs I don’t enjoy, especially if they read my blog. When we get back from Mexico I will take some time to do that!
.-= Author’s last blog post… in TRAINING =-.
i lurk among the comments and look for cool new blogs!
it is a good gift right?! i want runners world but i forgot to say i wanted that. don’t you hate that? i always forget what i want for xmas RIGHT before xmas.
birthday: 23rd of DECEMBER BABY!
=D
.-= Author’s last blog post… haters can’t stop my shine =-.
Pretty new pic!
Right now, I’m not really looking for more blogs to read. All my time is spent reading the blogs that I’m currently subscribed to! I will add blogs when I get a comment from a new person though (you’re actually near the top of my google reader list :)) It’s so hard for me to catch up right now though! I have 250 posts in my reader to catch up on right now!
I look at blogrolls every now and then but not all the time.
I think I’m going to need to do a purge in my reader soon 🙁 having folders would help! I didn’t know you could make folders.. lol
.-= Author’s last blog post… VA running partner? =-.
LOVE THE HEADER! 🙂 Love you!
i totally look at blog rolls, and people who comment’s blogs too. i love blogs! i even love the word blog. blog blog blog.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Christy – In Indiana =-.
I do the same thing–minus the purging. I probably should do that more often, but I’m afraid of people noticing and getting offended.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Change of plans. =-.
Mostly I get them from friends sharing posts in Google Reader or when blogger friends link to someone in one of their posts. I can’t really handle reading any more blogs though since I can’t seem to keep up with the hundreds I have now! They have to really hook me.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Three Stories =-.
I use Google Reader too, and mostly find new blogs to read through comments left on blogs I read or my own blog. I just did a HUGE purge of the reader yesterday and have the same folders you do- try to read daily, read when have time, checking out to see if I want to follow or not. I also follow some local news, daily photo blogs, and random stuff…a lot of times I’m never caught up, but at least it’s in folders and manageable so I can find what I want!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Money Madness =-.
I generally find new people to read one of three ways:
From something I already read: I see their comment on another blog (or a blogger references them).
From my blog: They comment on my blog.
From searching: I find their blog while googling around for something or searching the Twitter-verse.
I don’t always read them, I have to decide that I like them, but that’s usually where I find most of the ones that I like.
Of course if there’s a meet-up somewhere, I’ll start reading them once I meet them. Isn’t that how I met you? Or was I already reading you when we met?
Gary
.-= Author’s last blog post… Scrabble for the iPhone: Now with PUSH! – Review =-.
Part 2 – My feed reader is pretty maxed out. I use Google Reader on the desktop and I use Doppler on my iPhone (which syncs with Google Reader) so it allows me to generally keep up pretty good…
.-= Author’s last blog post… Twenty-Five days of free Christmas music downloads at Amazon.com =-.
I definitely look at blog rolls. I found some great blogs on a few different blog rolls. I have a good amount in google reader and it can be hard to keep up. But I always make time. I really enjoy reading blogs and writing in mine. I just started a few weeks ago and I’m already addicted! 🙂
.-= Author’s last blog post… Oh, How I’ve Missed You! =-.
mine is up: http://thefishgate.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-makes-me-to-subscribe.html