Although I have been blogging for well over three years now, I have been rather left behind with the whole technology of it all. I have been trying to remedy this and drag my blog into 2010.
After a lot of tantrums and tears, I have finally added the 'Follow' gadget (or is it widget?) onto my blog, so if you are not following me and would like to, now is your chance! I have to be completely honest though, what does 'following' actually mean? I have been going around the blogosphere and 'following' all the brilliant blogs that I read, and have been trying to get to grips with Google Reader. From what I can gather it allows you to read all recent posts from all the blogs that you follow, in once place. But are you also able to leave comments in Google Reader? And does anyone use Google Reader? Why not just use your blog list in the sidebar?
As for burning feeds, and feedburner, and subscription emails, and codes and Rss and Atom, I am completely flummoxed. The same goes for Twitter - I have been completely left behind, and often watch on from a distance in awe as you tweet away, and retweet, and add pictures, and set up groups. Where do you learn all this stuff? Can I use the excuse of having two small children for my lack of brain and technical understanding? No, I didn't think so.
(You would never believe that I was once an ICT teacher in the local primary school - I must have been rubbish)
9 comments:
I'm sure you were fine, Elsie, it's just that things move on so quickly. I too started blogging 3 years ago and my blog is lost in the dark ages. I simply don't have the time to keep up with technology as real life keeps getting in the way. Enjoy your children and being a Mum. It's the best time.
I've never been a fan of RSS feeds, but I do like the follow box on the Blogger Dashboard (which seems to work with the follow gadget). That just gives you a short preview of any new post, so you don't have to go searching.
I'm sort of with you on Twitter. I've been using it for years, but I don't really have the hang of it. I suspect I'm just not an interesting enough person, I never feel like I have something to say.
Google Reader is, as you say, a place to read all blogs you are following in one place. To comment you usually have to click through to the blog (click on the title of the blog post) as Google Reader is tuned to your settings and is semi-private so only you would be able to see your comments on there. You can "share" or "like" a post by using the tools at the bottom of each post in G-Reader which indicates to other G-Reader users that it comes recommended by you.
The reason I don't have a Blog Roll is because I follow hundreds of blogs - some of them are updated once a month, some three times a day. I don't want to use up page-loading time waiting for all that to appear on the screen when someone visits my blog page. I have installed the Google Reader widget which shows all my shared items and has the option for you to view all if you want.
Google "feedburner" and follow the very simple instructions on there to burn your own feed - this allows other people to read your blog through RSS feeders (not just Google Reader) and receive updates regularly. Similar to Google Friend Connect but a different platform.
Twitter - use Tweetdeck or Seesmic - a whole new world of Twitter will open up before your eyes. It's like MSN on speed and much more interesting and interactive (well, I think so).
Hope all this helps :)
I recently posted about this, then read a sort of mini tutorial on BMB by Sally Whittle and still don't have much of a clue. It was written as plainly and simply as could be and i still didn't understand how to put an html link on a graphic.
I do get Google Reader and the whole point of following though. I was just about to put my 'follow' list on the side of my blog, but if it makes the page load really slowly I don't think I'll bother. I tend to click away from blogs that take too long to load.
I laughed out loud at your "Can I use the excuse of having two small children for my lack of brain and technical understanding? No, I didn't think so."
I use Google Reader a lot for reading blogs on my phone, as a lot of them take too long to load, but you can't comment from there - which is a problem, as it means I comment less than I might otherwise, I think. I used to just click through from blog roll, but use GR much more.
Twitter is hideously addictive once you get into it. You do need some kind of client, though (Tweetdeck is a good and quite easy one, I'd say) and, once you're into it, you'll have to get a smartphone, so you can tweet at the school gates and so on.
Or, you know, just carry on as you are!
Thanks so much everyone! Have found your comments really helpful. Tweetdeck (will go and investigate?!) blog pages loading too slowly, and google reader.
Feedburner is still a problem to me - i just can't get it to work, or understand the website. i seem to have listed my blog 3 times... and don't know where to go from here.
But thanks again! x
Twitter is still a mystery to me. I can just about tweet and retweet but wouldn't have a clue if anybody has replied to me.
Rss and feedburner are just words. I have no idea what they mean at all. I would love to know but unless it can be explained in easier than plain and simple I have no chance of understanding lol
I have a pretty lengthy follow list and have most of them on my blog list but like somebody else said it can affect loading times. I read most of them in the bottom section of the blogger dashboard now. So much easier
If you want help with Feedburner, just email me - nickie.ohara@gmail.com :)
Well, you know who to contact for advice on the techno side of things... I'll be standing by my in-box...
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