Ok, so it is time for me to act on the fact that Google Reader is closing at the end of June. I have not read the blogs that I follow for ages due to caring for my aging parents, looking after their business, 2 busy teens, maintaining my home and garden and the normal busy lifestyle that many of us lead. But on the other hand I don't want to lose my reading list so need to switch to another reader before the blog waves are swamped by procrastinators.
I spent hours this morning checking out the best alternatives and I have copied links for you to read to help you make your own decisions. This is where I started my research:
http://googlereader.blogspot.com/ I am reluctant to go with Google plus as I use gmail for one of the business sectors and don't find it user friendly. Here is another article which may be of interest - 5 alternatives to Google reader:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-57574201-233/google-reader-is-dying-but-we-have-five-worthy-alternatives/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title This article helped me look at various options and make my decision to move to Feedly.
It is important to me that I can read blogs from my laptop/PC, mobile phone and ipad. That I can share things to Facebook, Pinterest and other social media if I see something worthwhile sharing. I also require a fast loading reader, nothing worse than a site taking ages to load when you are spending a few precious minutes surfing whilst waiting to fetch children. I also wanted to be able to migrate my reading list easily and hassle free.
Feedly gained half a million new users in the first 2 days after Google announced that it's reader would be discontinued, I read many great reviews about their service and as it is a newer modern reader it seems better. Here is a review from PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2416675,00.asp
I also had Bloglovin in the back of my mind as a few of the blogs that I follow have switched to that reader but this blog post helped me decide
http://quiltinjenny.blogspot.com/2013/03/feedlybloglovin-app-review.html. For further reinforcement of of my decision I googled "Bloglovin vs Feedly" and read a number of comparative articles. It seems that the only time you would go with Bloglovin is if you only have the old Internet Explorer and none of the modern search engines like Firefox, Chrome etc.
Hope this helps those that are confused and I feel that you can't go wrong if you switch to Feedly. The switch was so easy to do and if you are technically challenged that will not be a problem.
Enjoy your day, from a freezing cold and wet Cape Town.
