It's not very clear if "blogs you are following" is a new feature or a synonymous for blogroll, since Google Reader links to a non-existent page that is supposed to reveal more information. A thread from Google Reader Group shows that the new feature was accidentally added and then removed.
"Google Reader automatically added a "Blogs I'm Following" folder on my Reader. I've already got my Reader set up the way I want it and this folder is superfluous and annoying," says Vanessa. "It would be nice if they gave us the option of using it before they just took it over that way! There is no mention of it in any of their help files either, this is just ridiculous," mentions Jackie.
The following screenshot, courtesy of "The Other Drummer", shows the new folder automatically added by Google Reader:
http://www.google.com/reader/view/user/-/state/com.blogger/following.
In other Google Reader news, the iPhone version started to reformat the linked web pages for mobile browser, but this can be changed in the settings. "For users with Nokia and other AppleWebKit-enabled phones, soon your phones won't automatically choose the iPhone version of Google Reader," says a Google employee.
{ Thanks, hlpPy. }
even more annoying is the fact that blogger took the list of the "blogs i'm following" from my google reader! so that means i already have those blogs on my reader, and now i have it twice! there was also no way of removing this folder from reader (although like you said, it is no longer there anyway)
ReplyDeleteamos - http://mos-s.blogspot.com
by the way, if i rely in line I cant subscribe via email... can I ?
ReplyDeletei would like to see this enable.
ReplyDeletespecially for comments
It looks like this may be a new Blogger in Draft feature to link feeds from Google Reader to the feed section in the dashboard.
ReplyDeleteEven so, I wonder why Blogger keeps "accidentally" releasing these updates before they are actually ready for release...
Yes, it is removed for me too now. It does seems superfluous and somewhat incomplete, but maybe they have something else better in mind.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hat tip.
You may have mentioned this before, but I just got the new iGoogle changes (that you first mentioned weeks ago I think) and I was surprised to find that when I clicked on the title of one of my "gadgets" that happened to be a blog, t would go into a mode that looked a lot like Google reader (complete with the "mark all as read" button).
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the various Google products are being prepared for a healthy dose of integration.
Unfortunately a few things, or maybe more than a few will get broken while all these changes get rolled out.
There are thousands of lines of code in Blogger for some features that let you follow blogs and build a reading list.
ReplyDelete"Contains ReadingList class that encapsulates functionality to retrieve subscription info from Google Reader back-end."
"The continuation token generated by the Feed Reader Back-End, that is used by the Reading List servlet to retrieve results from a stream continuing from a known point."
I noticed this too and searched all over trying to find anyone else that noticed. I guess I was too early in my search. I gave up and deleted it.
ReplyDeleteIt's so weird that Google thinks it's okay to just pull out the oddly placed rug from under our feet whenever they accidentally put it out. Why don't they communicate more? Just a simple sentence would suffice: "Ooop! Sorry, we accidentally added an experimental feature!"
Probably the small Google Reader team was hard at work fixing the bugs. I noticed at least 4 updates of the offline code for Google Reader.
ReplyDeleteOk, this new "feature" has really messed up Google Reader for me.
ReplyDeleteI was already following all the blogs I had listed in my Blogroll. So yesterday Google Reader moved them all to a silly "blogs i'm following" folder... but today I can't even find that folder!
These blogs are no longer listed in my reader subscription list.
But if I go to "manage my subscriptions," they're still there. Except I can't change the folder.
Grrrr. Am I doing something wrong? Or do I just have to wait for them to fix this?
Kristen, this is indeed a bug on our side. We're working on a fix that we hope will be live by the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteMihai Parparita
Google Reader Engineer
Ben
ReplyDeleteI Like Google,coz evrything you need to checked,it is so easy get the answer, and google is very helpul.
Trust me Ionut - when I saw this in Reader that day and realized the duplication - I cursed their team a lot for doing such things without consenting or giving us a choice. thankfully, they rolled it back.
ReplyDeleteWas wondering how they keep a track of what i am following - probably thru the feature as to where all i comment using the google blogger profile? thats a neat feature to have ala wordpress as to where all i have left a comment. What say?
Scoble actually predicted a Google Reader social bookmarking engine in 2006.
ReplyDeleteYou can now add friends to your friends list, share feed items, bookmark single blog posts from blogs that you read on the web and here’s the kicker, there is now a blog recommendation engine that recommends blogs you do not read by what your friends list is subscribed to in their Google Readers.
Then, everything you share and bookmark in Google Reader of course comes up on your Google shared items page linked to by your Google profile.
What really blew me away was the recommendation engine. If you add as many of your email list subscribers as you can to your Google Reader you can get a real good idea of what other blogs your subscribers are reading.
The links in your shared items are all HTML and fully followed so every time one of your RSS subscribers shares a blog post it is creating incoming links to your site.
Better yet, it uses the exact blog post title you wrote so now your links use your keyword phrases and bookmarkers can’t change your title tag.
After talking to my SEO top dog contacts, they were all floored and assured me this is the new SEO tactic that no one knows about.
http://www.keywebdata.com/?p=136
It is kind of hard to add friends, the easiest way is to send a chat invite from Gmail and then email your contact you want to friend and have them email you back. It seems Google wants a two way conversation before they will allow you to become mutual friends.
If you would like to friend me, add chrislang at gmail.com to your Google Gmail chat and send me an email letting me know so I can return an email to you, thereby creating a two way connection in Google.
Google is quietly rolling this out behind the scenes but it is a full blown social bookmarking application and the blog recommendation engine is the new blog marketing strategy.
One thing I have not quite figured out is if using FeedBurner now hurts you since the links point at the FeedBurner redirect rather than your site like a WordPress feed does.
So this is fixed for everyone now? Because I'm having the issue where the folder won't go away. I ignored it until today when I noticed that some of my subscription feeds are wrong. When I try to add the updated feed, it tells me it's in my Blogs I Follow area and won't let me add it to another folder.
ReplyDeleteMajor pain in the neck.
Well I don't know, I am new to this entire thing, all i do is work so no time to play. So I am here looking for guidance in figuring out this blog thing let alone the reader...I am a newby and hoping to catch on soon. :) Thanks for the postings...maybe I will learn a thing or two.
ReplyDeleteI want to add the blogs I'm following on my Blogger dashboard to Goggle Reader. There is a setting in Google Reader Preferences but when I check it, it says there was an error and to try again later. From Blogger Dashboard there is a "button" on the lower right that says "Add to Google Reader". When I clisk that it also errors.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying this daily for about two weeks now. If it doesn't actually work, can someone recommend an RSS reader that will import my followed blogs?
Thanks
Will get me to stop using Google Friend Connect, in order not to duplicate the rss feeds in my Google Reader. At least there were options in which to choose whether to subscribe to these blogs or not. You are imposed dictatorship. I am disappointed!
ReplyDeleteIt's Really great feature!
ReplyDeleteI don't get it...I just don't get it. Can someone please tell me how I can follow multiple blogs at one time and have those same blogs listed in one place where I can just click and go to the blog?
ReplyDeleteI have been recommending the "Blogs that I'm Following" folder for Google Reader so that faculty can read postings in private blog. However, in the last week or so, new blogs followed in Blogger are not showing up in Google Reader "Blogs that I'm Following" list anymore. I have tried clicking again the "View in Google Reader" link in the Blogger Dashboard again, to no avail.
ReplyDeleteI didn't do anything to have the blogs I follow on Google Reader. That has been the case for over 2 months.
ReplyDeleteThe "funny" thing came yesterday. Somehow, the list of Blogs I Follow dissappeared and just 5 of the 30 blogs that I follow are showing up. So I guess I will have to add one by one manually.
What's wrong with Reader?
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ReplyDelete