Time spent reading blogs... Where do *you* draw the line?
Category Blogging
Via the wonder of RSS, it's now possible to subscribe to hundreds (if not thousands) of blogs and receive all the content in one central location without visiting each site. And of course, it's no big deal to add "just a couple more blogs" to your RSS reader. But pretty soon, you've got far too many on your list, and you're spending increasing amounts of time trying to keep up.
Robert Scoble has stated (bragged?) that he has over 2000 blogs he follows and it takes over 3.5 hours to read them all. Does he do that every day? Does he do this on his own time or is it part of his job? And if it *is* done on his own time, isn't that just about as compulsive and deranged as the nearly 180 books I read a year?
I use Awazu as my RSS reader, and I keep the feed list around 85 to 90. If someone hasn't posted in a month or two, I consider them dead bloggers and remove the entry. I realize it's no big deal just to leave it waiting for them to come around later, but I don't like facing hundreds of potential reads each day. Between my RSS feeds and the handful of sites I visit "in person", I probably spend 20 - 30 minutes following things, and at times I consider even *that* excessive.
Is there any possible *good* reason (and I get to be the judge, as it's my blog) why someone would be spending hours a day reading what other people blogged? Is there a benefit you get out of it that balances out the cost of time and a life? I know some question me in the same way about my book reviewing, but at least I get to keep the book. :-)
Via the wonder of RSS, it's now possible to subscribe to hundreds (if not thousands) of blogs and receive all the content in one central location without visiting each site. And of course, it's no big deal to add "just a couple more blogs" to your RSS reader. But pretty soon, you've got far too many on your list, and you're spending increasing amounts of time trying to keep up.
Robert Scoble has stated (bragged?) that he has over 2000 blogs he follows and it takes over 3.5 hours to read them all. Does he do that every day? Does he do this on his own time or is it part of his job? And if it *is* done on his own time, isn't that just about as compulsive and deranged as the nearly 180 books I read a year?
I use Awazu as my RSS reader, and I keep the feed list around 85 to 90. If someone hasn't posted in a month or two, I consider them dead bloggers and remove the entry. I realize it's no big deal just to leave it waiting for them to come around later, but I don't like facing hundreds of potential reads each day. Between my RSS feeds and the handful of sites I visit "in person", I probably spend 20 - 30 minutes following things, and at times I consider even *that* excessive.
Is there any possible *good* reason (and I get to be the judge, as it's my blog) why someone would be spending hours a day reading what other people blogged? Is there a benefit you get out of it that balances out the cost of time and a life? I know some question me in the same way about my book reviewing, but at least I get to keep the book. :-)
| Permalink |
Comments
And the funny thing is about the books... I realize I should be doing more around the house, perhaps get a hobby (or a life!), or something like that. It's not like I sit around and read five hours a day. And I really don't consider myself a "fast" reader, either. I guess it's just a matter of not watching a lot of TV, and generally having a book around when I'm sitting doing nothing.
Posted by Duffbert At 07:31:05 On 03/12/2004 | - Website - |
I probably read 20 or so regularly. That's not very many, but I swear I don't think I could read 90 blogs a day. That would be way way too much. I like to read blogs I can participate in, too. Ones that are strictly informational, regardless of how great the info is, aren't my favorites, although when I have a technical problem that's where I'm headed...heheheh.
It's no different than anything else, though. If you spend 3 hours a day playing EverQuest- what are you getting out of it? Are you contributing to society? Not really- are you doing anything productive? Not really. At least reading blogs COULD help you with your job or something like that. Hell, a lot of people watch TV for 3 hours a day....zzzzzzzzz.
180 books a year is FRIKIN AMAZING, though. Man, how do you do that? You must leave burn marks on pages as you fly through them with your alien lazer eye reader thingies.
Posted by Tom Nichols At 06:53:07 On 03/12/2004 | - Website - |
2000 does seem a little obsessive, perhaps he's scared of missing something.
Posted by Carl At 13:46:05 On 03/12/2004 | - Website - |