Thursday, June 5, 2008

Why I Don't Like RSS Feeds


Okay, I finally put my favs into my Google Reader. I will keep them there for one purpose, to know what I've not read from ya'll yet. I will not ever read them on the RSS feed itself (unless you have a white blog anyway perhaps).
Why?
Cause blogs are an artistic expression of ones' self. What we say on them is not all there is, they are a work of art that express us. My friend Tricia loves sunflowers, and every time I visit her blog I feel like I'm in her living room, like I've come over for a visit. Christina loves purple and lavender so her blog speaks of her too, Zimms Zoo's pic of her kids is a joy every time I see it, Kristen's side bar photos of her boys always remind me how cute and little they are, and on and on.
RSS feeds feel like a trip to the hospital, white lights, sterile atmosphere....not personal. You could have a chat, but your not cozy.
I know they are convenient, and time saving, but they lack the sharing element of personality. I love to redecorate the blog every month. I always ask myself what mood am I in? Am I thinking of cheerful tones, or calm reflective ones? Do I long for cool colors or warm cozy ones. It's an expression of my mindset at the time.
I guess it's all in what you get out of blogs. Do you long to build relationships, know who people are, journey as sisters together? Or, do you just look to gather information. Find out how everybody does everything so you can figure if you could do things better (which is fine if you like that). I find that I shy away from blogs that don't tell me about peoples lives. I'm more into the sharing of humanity and the way God is working in our lives. There is already TMI out there and I will never have time nor energy to aspire to it all. If I ever need to know, I'll google it. Plus you can get overwhelmed by how much great stuff some moms use, do, manage, buy, don't buy, recommend (though a personal "i love this" tip now and then is an inspiration!) yada, yada, yada. There is always a better way to do everything. If that is what you are out for in blogs, RSS feeds are for you. If you want to make a personal visit...it's cold and uninviting.
So, I won't be visiting most of you there I'll stop by your spot in blogsphere where it's cozy. I will use it to know when is a good time to come by though:)!

(oooo... this post is so opinionated! shhhhh!)

4 comments:

Zimms Zoo said...

I wasn't quite sure how RSS feeds work. now I know. I thought it just alerted you to a new post and then you went by and checked it out. So you cleared it up for me.

I do like how you change it every month.
We are going to get our pictures done soon, so we will be changing our picture soon.

Tricia said...

I do like your new look. What is RSS feeds?

Alicia said...

they are places like google reader where you plug in all the blogs you want to keep up on and they are all lined up for you telling you how many posts you have not read yet that are new. They appear then on the page all bright white in a simple font text with the only flair being any picture you posted. Now side bar info, personal stuff you've added to your blog...nada. just the post text and pictures. Clean and simple, no personality.
It is helpful to see at a galce who has posted so you know where to go on your fav list. I can help you find it sometime or you can just go google reader and set one up.

celeste said...

Ha ha! I agree completely. Part of the fun of reading blogs is the design.