Thing #6: Feed Me Seymour
July 24, 2009 by greghd
I can’t help but think of the musical/movie “Little Shop of Horrors” when I ever I encounter the word feed. In this movie a small venus-flytrap like plant requires a daily dose of blood from Seymour until the plant outgrows his caretaker. He then requires more… Yes you can only imagine. So, i return to Google Reader with trepidation. Will my appetite for RSS lead me into a tangled jungle of feeds? Most likely. There must be some simple principle for pruning though.
Here are my thoughts on pruning so that the reader doesn’t get clogged like the SPAM box of my email account. If I haven’t found anything interesting to read for 2 weeks, cut it. If my reader has more than 10 feeds trim it to 8. And finally so as to keep a healthy balance of feeds, if any one topic reaches 5 feeds, cut it to three and look for variety. A good garden has an assortment of crops, for good nutrition and a healthy environment.
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Hi Greg, and everyone,
When I hear “feed” I think of the book by M.T. Anderson, Feed. Everyone gets an implant, called a “feed,” attached directly to their brain when they are born, that constantly gives messages, particularly marketing messages. A terrific futuristic commentary about information overload and the constant need to be connected or viewing something.
To help you prioritize your selected feeds, however, you can use folders. Click on “manage subscriptions” at the bottom of your list of feeds. You should now have a screen with all of your subscriptions.
Do any of these have a common theme? Make a folder for that theme by clicking on “add to a folder,” then “new folder.” Give the folder a name. For example, I have a folder for 23things summer 2009 for all of your blogs.
Now go through and add all of the folders with that theme by clicking on “add to a folder.” This can be a big time saver!