Blogs and RSS feeds

Our assignment this week was to try some RSS readers.  I settled on Google reader because it's pretty intuitive with a really easy user interface.  The other readers I checked out were also pretty easy to use, but I like the way Google lets me group my feeds and I already have a Google account, so ... here we are.

I've been adding various blogs and websites to my reader over the past week and keeping up to date with them (well, mostly).  What I like about the reader is that I can get caught up on all the updates at a quick glance.  I can't read full articles in Google reader, however.  I have to click on each link (if I so choose), and then I'm brought to the original website.

This week, our class was also tasked with finding other blogs focussed on something we're passionate about (for me, it's Theatre!).  One question that came to mind when I was trolling around was what happens to page impressions when someone chooses to use an RSS feed?  Can blogs and websites track stats through the feed?  To find out, I sent an e-mail to Sterling Lynch, a local Ottawa thespian who has maintained his own blog for some time now.  Sterling said, "My understanding is that if a person views a page through Google reader, it is counted as a page view.  I used to have a little button that people could use to subscribe to the blog, and it would tell me if someone did.  People rarely used it."  Which just goes to show that people really are choosing their own ways to view content.  Sterling doesn't advertise on his blog, but he often links the reader to other blogs and news sites.  It's a really great way to build a community through sharing.

Another great blog called Struts and Frets by local Equity actor Kris Joseph is a great way to find out about what he's up to and any theatre news he's privy to.  In fact, his blog told me about a play he's in (Mother Courage) at the NAC.  So I went and saw it.  And, just like his blog said, it was "pretty damn good".

Honestly, I can't believe I haven't learned about this RSS reader stuff until now.  It's a great way to keep up on new trends and news.  I still haven't commented on too many blogs .. I find I don't have much to say yet.  But now I have one more link to the Ottawa theatre scene, to which most of my friends belong.