Feed Reading Strategy: Skim, Scan & Save
When I work with someone, I give new RSS users a goal of subscribing to 20-40 RSS feeds, as well as a few search terms important to their own business.
After awhile, I teach them how to Prune their RSS habits. Man, reading feeds can become addictive - so I coach against the addiction.
The third step - and only after they've built some scanning muscles - is what I call the Skim, Scan & Save method of reading feeds. Almost every aggregator has a "save" feature. Google Reader calls it "Starred Items."
As you read your feeds, starting with the headlines and moving fast, save those you will want to digest further (and later). Go back three or four times a week (or daily) and get the full dose of those items you save.
I subscribe to around 600 feeds. I don't come close to reading every item, but I save and look closely at about 200-300 items each week. Considering many bloggers post multiple times each day, I'll weed out 2/3 of the feed items by using the Skim, Scan & Save method.
If I miss something important, someone will blog about it (usually with a better headline or a few eye rests in the post).
How do you digest your feeds?
Photo on Flickr by _chance_
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