I have been using Google Reader for a couple of years now and it really has proven a great asset to my blog. Having all the latest from my favourite blogs delivered right to my computer is just blissful. Well it has now shut down and now what?
I actually embraced this opportunity to do a good clean out and update the blogs I was now following, delete the ones that no longer interested me - or who were no longer active - and put them into new categories.
I know many of my readers use Bloglovin' to stay up-to-date with their favourites blogs and have them all in one place, but why not give these feeds a go, you might just be surprised at what you have been missing out.
NewsVibe (web) is simple, straight forward and a clean way of reading your RSS feeds. It allows for a no-fuss read of all your favourite blogs and sites. It is a two column read, meaning that your right hand column are your feeds and on the left you can easily browse your folders and jump from one to another. You can also 'star' your feeds to allow you to go back and find your favourite posts at a later stage.
Skimr (webapp) is a 'clean feed' reader that allows you to easily browse all your news feed headlines. You will get all your new stories - with or without a picture - chronologically in one single column to allow for easy skimming. Probably not the best reader if you actually want to read/look at the fashion posts from your favourite bloggers in one place.
When you sign up for an account you can start adding and building your very own news feed by adding all your favourite blogs and sites. You can also import your previous feed if you already have one. You can categorise your feeds and add them to personalised folders. I use to have my blogs organised per country but this will probably change. However, you cannot easily jump from one folder to another as all your news feeds are given to you all at once. I would recommend this is you only follow a dozen - or maybe a bit more - blogs.
Feedly (web / iOS / android) is probably one of the favourite feeds and one of the most popular Goggle Reader alternatives at the moment. It allows you to have one single RSS reader for all your devices. However, unlike the above two feeds, this is less of a constant stream of RSS and is a bit more like browsing a webzine - think Flipboard. As it is very visual and image based and focused, it actually works really well for fashion / Lifestyle / food blogs. It is definitely worth a try if you haven't yet heard of it or used it.
Pulse (web / iOS / android) is another RSS feed for the visual readers out there and for those of you wanting to digest all of your favourite lifestyle and fashion blogs that are more often than not pictures centric. Pulse doesn't deliver your RSS feed in the classic and tradition Google Reader way, nor does it want to. Pulse allows for a very image-focused and visual read which is great if your feed mainly consist of visual blogs. Just like Flipboard, it already has a wide selection of categories of topics and interests. It also has a 'read it later' option which has become hugely popular and I have to say, is something I use regularly.
The only 'down side' to this is that Pulse pushes to the top the articles and fees it thinks you will most likely to be interested in. Although I like the idea, I really just want to see my entire feed chronologically rather than 'browse'.
And that is it for now folks, I hope you find the perfect match for your RSS feed.