Goodbye Google Reader, Hello Bloglovin'

   Yeah, yeah, I know, everyone's blogging about it, but that's because it's important. Google Reader going away (on July 1st) means that you'll no longer be able to follow any blogs through that method any more.

   This DOESN'T mean that my blog will disappear, or that anyone else's will. You'll still be able to find the blog in the same place, at the same time, with the same URL. But it DOES mean that you won't be able to use Google Reader to follow my newest posts, or anyone else's.

   Personally, I've never used Google Reader. I have used Bloglovin for a very, very long time. It displays posts easily and cleanly, with only the occasional advertisement as a distraction, because it is conjunction with Bloglovin itself, usually blogger awards or something. It's also free, as it should be.

   You're able to add blogs to Bloglovin, so if the blog you want to follow through BL doesn't have a BL follow button, you can still add them to the database - if you paste the full URL of a blog into the search bar, it will find the blog, whether that blog has been added to the website before or not. Even if it hasn't, you can follow it through Bloglovin. And, if you're the owner of the blog, you can claim it (NOTE: this doesn't mean other people can impersonate you and claim it in your stead. To claim the blog, you need to add some HTML to the sidebar to just prove that it's yours. You can remove this afterwards if you wish). If people follow your blog before you claim it, you won't lose those followers, and those followers won't lose you. Nothing really happens except it's easier for the blog owner to keep track of states on Bloglovin.

   There's also RSS feeds, and Feedly.com which I tried using once but found it too busy.

   If you usually use Google Reader to view my blog, or anyone else's, switch over to one of these options, or another I've not named, or you won't be automatically updated any more!