Back in March, there was a bit of a debate in the GPO office over RSS readers. In the wake of the announcement of Google Reader’s imminent demise on July 1st, the shift to alternative RSS readers has become necessary, and there are a ton of options out there. Feedly, Fever, NetVibes, NewsBlur, Flipboard, TheOldReader, Bloglines, RSSOwl, Comma Feed, and Managing News have all been cited as Google Reader replacements. Digg is also coming out with a new reader this week, so we’ll soon see how that plays out.
After much spirited office discussion, I settled on Feedly. Its simple little green-and-gray interface is incredibly easy to navigate, and it has proven to be a great tool in facilitating content creation. It even lets you transfer your Google Reader feeds, so if you’re a religious Google Reader user, you won’t lose your feeds with the switch. Feedly also gives you viewing options. You can select “Title Only View” (like Google Reader), “Magazine View,” “Cards View,” and “Full Article,” so no matter what kind of layout suits you, you can browse efficiently.
Here are some tips for using Feedly to your advantage when generating content.
Get Industry News
Relevant, current content is more likely to draw engagement, and being among the first to comment on a news item can really give you credibility. Subscribe to feeds that relate to your industry so you can aggregate news from many different sources, and if you have something to say about a breaking news item, offer up your take on the subject.
Keep Up with Your Competitors
Follow your competitors’ feeds to find out what sort of content they’re generating, and adjust your content accordingly. Should you approach a popular topic from a new angle? Can you address an issue in greater depth than your competitors? What kinds of topics are followers responding to?
Organize Your Feeds
In addition to an all-inclusive newsfeed (marked, appropriately, “All”) Feedly lets you create subfolders so you can better organize your feeds. Rather than sorting through a jumble of articles and updates, sort your sources according to topic, article type, sub-feeds of a particular site whatever works for you. The less you have to search when it comes time to check, the quicker it will be to come up with good material.
Get the Mobile Version
Bored while waiting in line? Instead of checking your email for the 26th time, bring up Feedly app and flip through the day’s news. Feedly’s mobile app is very smartphone-friendly, letting you skim articles quickly and switch between folders with minimal navigation.
Check Daily
Even if that just means skimming the day’s headlines as soon as you get to the office, checking your feeds daily will prevent a pileup of articles to sort through the next time you log in.
Author: Amanda Hopkins
Courtesy of www.gpo.co
