Are you a subscriber, or just a casual reader? Do you bookmark your favorite blogs and check them regularly, or do you subscribe in a reader and get the articles delivered right to you? I believe that there are definitely some advantages to being a subscriber. Whether you use an online reader like Bloglines, Pageflakes, Yahoo!, etc. or a standalone program like Greatnews, Blog Bridge, RSS Owl, etc; you will definitely save time by subscribing to your favorite blogs. Here are some good reasons to become a subscriber:
It Saves Time I personally have well over 100 feeds that get delivered to me everyday. Now, do I read every single article every single day? No. But, I do scan through every headline, and I read those that grab my attention. Can you imagine trying to go through bookmarks every day and visiting 100 blogs to read their latest? If you have that kind of time, more power to you. I don't. I start my day by scanning through my feeds, reading the ones that attract me most, and marking off the ones that don't interest me at all. The ones that I want to read, but don't have time right now, I leave marked "unread" so I can go back later in the day to catch up when I have more time. I don't miss any interesting articles that way.
It Is Convenient One of the best reasons to be a subscriber is convenience. Using a feed reader, you can have all your favorite blogs/articles in one convenient place. That refers back to the time-saving benefit. Also, it makes it easier for you, as a reader, to get to your favorite materials in an organized presentation that makes prioritizing your reading very simple. If you are not a subscriber, there is always the possibility that you could miss an important article, but as a subscriber, you will see all the articles posted to your favorite blog since the last time you opened your reader. You won't miss anything. Even if the blog only shows a partial article on the feed, when you click the link, you will be taken directly to the article you want to read, and won't have to worry about searching for it.
It Is Free There are lots of great feed readers out there. Both Outlook 2007 and Thunderbird have readers built in. Also, Blog Bridge (My Favorite), Greatnews, and RSS Owl are free standalone applications. If you don't want to mix your feeds with your email, and don't want to install software on your machine, there are lots of online solutions like Bloglines, Yahoo!, MSN, and Google. These are all free ways to get all your feeds delivered right to your PC, as they are posted.
Specials Some bloggers offer special promotions, sometimes even freebies, that are exclusively available to subscribers. The "visit-only" reader may never even know about those offers, since they are usually intended as a "Thank You" for subscribers.
Personally, I'm a subscriber. Even though I make it a point to visit the blog sites of my favorite blogs every day, I like having the ability to direct my visit to a specific article, where I can read it, stumble it if I like it, and get on with my reading time.
