The Web According To Google #87 Google Reader

Ever feel like you just want to read a newspaper article or a blog entry without someone watching? Google Reader is SO organized, I feel like someone's keeping an eye on what I'm interested in and assembling other data to drop in my lap in case I MIGHT be interested in reading that too. I like the idea of feed readers in general. When iHCPL first introduced us to Bloglines, I went nuts subscribing to my favorite feeds. After awhile, you realize that there's only so much information you can take in a day without getting a blinding headache so now I've whittled my list to something more manageable. When you first sign up on Google Reader, there's "bundles" of feeds to choose from to get you started. If you like food blogs then perhaps you'd like these 14 other blogs too. Makes me nervous. There's also a "Like" button if you like that particular feed but you should know that if you click it, everyone on the internet will be able to view your name as someone who was interested in that story. Do I want everyone to know that I regularly view Animals With Lightsabers? So what if I do? You can sort your feeds by "newest," "oldest" or something called "sort by magic." Huh? I clicked on it and it only meant that your RSS feeds are sorted by relative content based on what you've viewed before, liked before, commented on previously. Cute. I took the tour and signed up but for now, I think I'll stick with Bloglines, which I do view daily. I don't need so many ways to organize what I'm viewing and neither do I want to share all my strange idiosyncrasies with everyone I know. That's what this blog is for.