Note: Folks who aren’t interested in Technical Web Stuff should move along to the next post, or look at cute kittens or something.
I have a delicate web/info/posting ecosystem I maintain here (here‘s how it looked in 2009, and that’s largely still accurate). I Tweet. I Share stuff in Google Reader. I cross-post. And I do it all with some design goals in mind:
- My blog is my data repository of record. As much as possible, stuff I do should be reposted to, or stem from, my blog. The advantage of that is it remains (for most intents and purposes) a service under my control, not some third party cloudy service provider (Google, Twitter, Facebook, whomever).
- I don’t bug followers unecessarily. I share a lot of stuff in Google Reader. I could have all of that show up in my Twitter feed, but not only would that cause duplication in my blog, but it would probably lead to a mass unfollowing of my small number of Twitter followers, mostly because of volume (in a few cases because of politics, I suspect).
- Reposting should be kept to a minimum. If I share something in Google Reader, it should eventually show up in my blog, and in a Twitter stream somewhere. If I Tweet something, it should also show in Facebook and my blog. Etc.
Google Plus, because of it’s new nature, has been something of an exception here. It’s not been possible to auto-share stuff back and forth, which has meant that using it is an extra, manual effort.
One major center of my web content generating world has been Google Reader, an RSS reader that has been brilliant in being able to read, share, and forward on links to all sorts of stuff. It’s also been a bit of a red-headed child for Google, who hasn’t really done much with it the past couple of years. Indeed, amidst all the regular claims by webnoscenti that RSS is dead, there were fears that Google would drop Reader altogether.
Well, it hasn’t, but the announcement today from Google has me moderately concerned.
In the next week, we’ll be making some highly requested changes to Google Reader. First, we’re going to introduce a brand new design (like many of Google’s other products) that we hope you love.
Which is a great sign. The Reader design was a couple of generations old, so bringing it in line with the rest of Google’s redesigns is not only good in and of itself, it’s a sign that Google is interested in maintaining the app.
Second, we’re going to bring Reader and Google+ closer together, so you can share the best of your feeds with just the right circles.
That’s … good.
No, really. G+ integration from Reader has been something folks have been talking about since G+ was issued. Though the problem has been figured out through Reader “Send To” capability (kinda-sorta), it would be great to be able to have (selectively?) my Google Reader shares show up in G+ automagically.
Except …
Well, for example, RSS feeds from G+ are only available from the Public shares. So telling me that I’ll be able to share “the best of my feeds with just the right circles” is vaguely worrisome, for reasons I’ll mention below.
As a result of these changes, we also think it’s important to clean things up a bit. Many of Reader’s social features will soon be available via Google+, so in a week’s time we’ll be retiring things like friending, following and shared link blogs inside of Reader.
On the one hand, this makes sense. G+ is Google’s social app, so making it the sole focus of social aspects is logical.
On the other hand … I spend the majority of my time in Reader on the “People You Follow” list. That’s where all of the RSS feeds that folks who I follow in Reader have their shared stuff show up. It’s compact and easy to use, much moreso than following a G+ stream.
Reader items are (or can be) full-text when expanded, but a single line when collapsed. G+ items are a short summary blurb (unless you click through) plus whatever note you craft for it. It doesn’t collapse. So a screen of Reader items may show thirty or forty at a time, which I can skim and choose the ones I want. A screen of G+ items may show four or five. It’s much less efficient.
(I am currently following 30 people; 43 people are following me.)
So in the new regime, will I have a single G+ circle to which I can share Reader items to? Or for each Reader item I choose to share to G+, will I be given a choice of what circle(s) I choose to share with (if not Public)?
The loss of the shared link blog (currently viewable here) probably doesn’t affect too many people — though I know Margie uses it as a quick shortcut to read my “Unblogged Bits” items (more on that below).
We think the end result is better than what’s available today, and you can sign up for Google+ right now to start prepping Reader-specific circles.
As yet undefined what “Reader-specific circles” means.
We recognize, however, that some of you may feel like the product is no longer for you. That’s why we will also be extending Reader’s subscription export feature to include the following items. Your data belongs to you, after all, and we want to make sure you can take it with you.
By the way, that Google has been so diligent about letting you download your data out of it is one of the reasons I trust then in ways I trust no other Net vendor. Because they fundamentally recognize it’s my data. Yeah, if I put it into their services, then they will make some use of it (TANSTAAFL), but I can always, prior to shutting down my account, get my data out. The historian in me rejoices.
Your subscriptions
Your shared items
Your friends
Your likes
Your starred items
I will definitely be pulling this data out, even though I anticipate continuing to use Reader as a source for getting info off the web. RSS rocks.
Like always, the new Google Reader will be a great place to read and share your feeds. And in addition to Google+, you’ll still be able to share to almost any service using Send To. We’re looking forward to launching the new features very soon.
Blah, blah, blah. Though it sounds like Reader, even if now less of a stand-alone app as much as a feed itself to Google Plus, will continue as a product. Which is a Good Thing.
So here’s my concern.
Right now, I do a ton of reading and sharing through Google Reader (visible through the Reader auto-blog here, or the RSS feed here, or as routed via RSS to Twitter here, or as pulled into my blog as “Unblogged Bits” here).
Will the Reader2Twitter still work under the new Reader?
More importantly, will the RSS feed of my Shared items still exist if the auto-blog doesn’t? Because, if it doesn’t, then my Unblogged Bits posting goes away. Which would be … unfortunate.
If there was RSS support for G+ circles, that would (I think) fix the problem. You can get an RSS feed of the Public posts, but not (so far) of specific circles. So if I end up having to route my Reader shares to a specific G+ circle, then I won’t be able to do the Unblogged Bits posts. Again … unfortunate.
Another side-twist in this whole thing is that Google is getting rid of Buzz, it’s previous Twitter competitor. Which makes perfect sense, given the Google Plus strategy. While all of my Google Reader shares have been going into Buzz (previously viewable from GMail, but also viewable, for me, from my Google Plus screen), I never go into Buzz proper any more. But that’s because all Reader comments on things I’ve shared go into Buzz and thence to my email, where I see them and can comment back automagically. Question is, if Buzz is going away, how will that all work, too?
Let me note that I think Google is moving the right direction with all of this. G+ is a cool app, and if Google wants to make it the hub of its social infrastructure, that’s not only their prerogative, but I think it’s a good idea. But … I have my web ecosystem. I want to be sure that I can continue to, let’s say, share things I find in Reader, or Plus, and then have them appear in my blog through some means. I don’t want to be solely dependent on G+ as the center of my social infrastructure and data on the Web.
I hope that, when the new changes show up “very soon” that some of this FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) will be resolved.