Elliotte Rusty Harold grumbles about RSS aggregators offering a poorer user experience than web pages. I have to agree.
I completely love Bloglines, and spend way more time there than any other site. However, there’s no substitute for actually visiting your favourite feeds’ HTML web pages once in a while. In the same way that a picture is worth a thousand words, the design of the blogger’s site often gives away much more information than the content of his/her writing.
It’s rather like working with someone for several years and then visiting him at home for the first time. His domestic decor can tell you more about him than any number of conversations. That aggregator’s great, but don’t get too cosy: take a walk on the web every once in a while.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Simon // Aug 5, 2005 at 15:20
I generally agree, although many of the blogs I read have a standard template, which may have been modified only slightly. Yours, for example, is very similar to one of mine: http://sussex.geekdinner.co.uk/
I generally subscribe from the actual site, so I see it initially, and get a feel for the blogger’s design. Most blogs I read are written by techies, and they usually write a post when they’ve updated the look of their site. As I subscribe to over 150 blogs, I spend most of my time in bloglines too.
2 Mike Dillamore // Aug 5, 2005 at 21:16
Thanks for getting in touch - and for subscribing. I guess you found the site via feedmap. Like you, I have a folder of local bloggers set up in Bloglines.
I agree with your point about standard templates (and I’d like to make this one a little less standard in time). However, even the fact that standard templates are used says something about the blogger.
3 Adrian // Aug 8, 2005 at 13:28
Hi - so what does my home say about me?
Adrian