socialmedian: Why I don't use Google Reader anymore

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Oct 29, 2009

Summary

I used to be the biggest user of Google Reader. At one point the Google Reader team told me I shared more items than anyone else. But lately it's a rare month I've checked into it and Twitter is in the process of adding a new feature -- lists -- that is getting me off of Google Reader altogether.

Why?

Several reasons:

1. Google Reader is FREAKING SLOW. It sometimes takes longer than a minute to open it up. "But my Google Reader account is super fast," I can hear you saying. Yeah, but you don't have any friends and you don't have many things you are subscribed to. Compare to Twitter lists or Twitter itself. I'm following 10,000+ people. More than 100,000 are following me. Yet Twitter opens instantly.

2. Google Reader's UI is too confusing. Yeah, I know how to use it, but really, do we need "like" and "share" and "share with note?"

3. It makes me feel guilty. I have 1,000 unread items. Twitter doesn't tell me that.

4. The social network features suck. Managing friends in Google Reader is slow, and hard to do. Not that Twitter or Facebook is perfect but they are a L

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