I have noticed lately that my Blogroll and News Feeds list was getting severely out of date. I kept saying I?d update the feed lists, but never really got around to it. I just got back from lunch and finally decided I was tired of having all those crap entries on my site that were no longer worthy of my RSS Reader.
I just exported all my feeds to an OPML file and imported them into Wordpress. Thanks to Onfolio, exporting them a folder at a time was easy, and I could import all the Blogroll entries and once (and have them inserted into the correct category), and then do all the news feeds at once (and have them inserted into their separate category).
If you?re running Windows (IE or Firefox), I?d highly recommend giving Onfolio a try. Not only does it have a great RSS reader, but it?s also got some amazing web page clipping features. I recently went on a bash.org kick (as I?m prone to do every few months), and ?Captured” my favorites into an Onfolio collection. When someone wanted to see them, I simply had Onfolio export them all to a web page (I could have also automatically published them to a blog, emailed them directly, among many other options). It?s really a great product, that I?ll continue to use as long as I have a Windows machine capable of running it.
Anyway, the real point of this blog entry was to comment on the change in the ratio of my links. Previously I?d had an equal number of blogs and news feeds in my reader. Lately, however (and as you can see), I?ve moved away from news feeds and have an enormous number of blogs in my reader. I find this interesting, because I?ve always been one to read CNN or MSNBC. I could honestly sit in front of a TV and watch CNN for hours on end, even if I am hearing the same stories over and over again every hour.
I think this definitely marks a turning point in the web and our society as a whole. I?ve noticed that others have come to the same conclusion as I, and that they too have shifted themselves. While we may keep a few links to traditional news publications, the majority of the reading we do on a daily basis is now of a more personal nature.
I know that I much prefer reading about Wil Wheaton?s every day life, as compared to reading about the famine in Indonesia, or the tornado in Kansas. Not only is it much more uplifting, but from a psycho-analytical point of view, it?s also much more relevant. As horrible as that famine or tornado may be, it really has absolutely no impact on my day-to-day life. However, I can read along with Wil and not only laugh (and cry) along with him, but also learn from some of his mistakes and not have to make them myself.
Is this just me? Has anyone else noticed this trend in their friends? or their own blogrolls? What?s the ratio of personal blogs to news sites in YOUR news reader?
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