David Herrold

RSS bloat with Google Reader

Posted by Dave | Filed under Google, Technology, Usability

Nearly 4 months ago I trimmed the RSS feeds I read on a regular basis from 192 to 132. That reduction was fairly easy and painless. I looked at my reading trends and the frequency with which many of the feeds update and cut anything I hadn’t read within the last 30 days.

I checked my subscriptions tonight in my Google Reader account and was shocked to find that I have climbed back up to 162 subscriptions.

How did this happen?!

The more I think about it, the more I think Google Reader makes subscribing to RSS feeds too easy for me. With only 2 clicks, I can subscribe to a feed.

1 click - on the RSS chicklette.

1 click - to choose Google Reader (instead of my Google Personal page).

It’s that simple. Almost too simple.

It’s like putting candy in the check-out aisle of the grocery store. It makes buying a chocolate bar very easy for someone with a sweet tooth. In my case, the chocolate bar happens to be a collection of interesting blog subscriptions. I tend to subscribe to RSS feeds when I find something “cool” or “neat”.

I think I need to come up with some sort of acid test or criteria for subscribing to a feed. Is a new subscription really going to make a positive impact on my life? Will it teach me a new skill? Will it make me smile? Will it help me solve a problem? Will it keep me connected to friends or updated with important industry news?

If I can’t answer “yes” to at least one of these questions, I won’t subscribe.

(Now, I need to use this acid test to evaluate all of my current subscriptions. I hope this helps me trim the fat.)

I’ll report back later with the results.

Until then, you can view my shared RSS items or subscribe to them. Right now there are around 250+ items in my shared feed. Enjoy.

Tags: feeds, Google Reader, RSS, subscriptions