Thing 9: Google Reader

There are a lot of websites out there, and most of us have certain websites that we check regularly. Now that we are all "following" different colleagues' blogs, we have even more websites to check. What if you could check for updates of all your favorite blogs, online newspapers and other regularly-updated sites by visiting one simple page? That's the beauty of RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication. You may have noticed that some of your favorite websites have little orange icons that look like this:

This orange RSS icon lets you know that you can subscribe to the website using a news reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines. You simply have to create an account* with one of these news readers and then start adding websites that have RSS feeds. Watch this Common Craft video to learn more about RSS feeds and Google Reader:



Your job for Thing 9

is to sign up for a Google Reader account, add the blogs of the classmates you're following, plus at least 3 other blogs, online newspapers, or websites to your reader. Chances are, some of the websites you already visit a lot have RSS feeds available. Post about your experiences with Google Reader or Bloglines, if you think you would use it, and how you could use it professionally.

Here's how to set it up:

Go to Google.com

1. From the "more" drop down on the left-hand top of the page, select "Reader"
2. Now, go to your favorite, regularly-updated website (see some suggestions below) and find the RSS feed icon (shown above...usually orange, but not always). Click it. You'll be asked if you want to add the feed to your Google Reader or your Google Homepage. Choose Reader.
3. Repeat step 3 for other newsfeeds/blogs/sites.
4. You can also add blogs by clicking on "add a subscription" at the top left corner and copying in the URL of the blog.
5. Now instead of going to all these sites daily to read what's new, you go to Google reader (log in on your gmail account) and the news comes to you!

Here are some sites with RSS feeds to get you started:
Cedar Rapids Gazette (look for the RSS icon on the right-hand side column, about half-way down--you can also get news delivered to your phone, etc.
The New York Times RSS index--Tons of different RSS feeds for every interest!
NPR's RSS index

After you have your Google reader set up, write a post reflecting on your experience with RSS feeds and news readers. How might it be useful professionally?