Subscribing on the Web - Part 2

If you are new to subscribing to blogs you might want to read the previous post first: 'Subscribing' - the Web Way.

If you are ready to learn more, here is a YouTube video that does an excellent job at explaining how to subscribe to websites and blogs.  I highly recommend that you take 3 minutes to watch this.  It is very clever.

Okay, you now know the first step is to sign up for a reader.  Like I mentioned before, I use Google Reader.  Honestly, when I started off with this subscribing business I started using Google Reader for no other reason than I already had a Google account for Gmail so I could use the same log-in info (username and password).  I have used it for over a year and here are the things I like:

1. It is easy to use and there are a lot of well publicized keyboard shortcuts.
2. I can organize my subscriptions into topic folders (e.g. geeky stuff, cooking, parenting, etc).
3. I can share my favorite items with friends who also use Google Reader.
4. While surfing the web, I can also add any single item to Reader with an attached note.  It's like taking notes on your bookmarks.
5. Based on my subscriptions, Google Reader provides a list of other sites I may be interested in.  This is a good fishing tool.

Deciding which RSS reader is best for you really depends on type of system you use (PC or Mac) and which browser you use (Firefox, Explore, Safari, etc).  Here are a couple of things you should also consider:

• Whether or not you want to read your subscriptions off-line (when you are not on the web).  If so, then you want a desktop application. 
• Whether or not you want to use a pre-existing account with Google, Yahoo, etc.  Most of these companies also provide web-based readers, so there is no extra account to set up.

From my limited knowledge base of other readers, I couldn't possibly describe them accurately, so here is post from a credible source that describes 5 popular ones (although it didn't include Bloglines which I also read a lot about),  And if you are interested in some less common ones, here is another link.

Okay, what are you waiting for...subscribe to iMomZone.com already...(please).