Hmmm. Commenter Greg draws my attention to Google's planned closure of its reader service in July. I personally have been using reader as my main way to follow news and blogs for many years, and I think its closure raises questions about Google's commitment to the entire blogging ecosystem that they host.
So this seems like a good time to do some thinking about the future technological platform for this blog. Should I go all Facebook? Switch to another blogging platform? Twitter? What say readers?
I am a fan of wordpress. You can use the .com hosting (like blogger) or use the .org and host your own. Wherever you go, I think it's worth having your own domain name. You can take it with you wherever you go so that folks will always be able to find you.
ReplyDeletePlease don't go all-Facebook. I like to keep my blog-reading distinct from my Facebooking. I personally plan to migrate to another RSS reader (maybe Feedly?), so I'd prefer another blog platform.
ReplyDeleteI was dumbstruck by Google's announcement yesterday. I predict they will reverse their decision within two weeks. If they don't some other similar service will quickly fill the void.
ReplyDeletePlease don't change your platform. I left Facebook last year and will not follow you there. Also, I will not follow you on Twitter.
i think blogger is safe...google makes ad revenue off of most blogs; they were making nothing off reader...
ReplyDeletei am not impressed with what i can do with free wordpress, but probably havent experimented as much as i could...
I've been using blogger for many years. It's easy to use (although recent changes made it harder for me to post photos; I use a Mac if that makes any difference), it's free, and there's no annoying ads.
ReplyDeletePlease don't go to FB, or at least, not exclusively. I'll keep looking here at blogger and my guess is that most of your readers will too.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that it something that they want to push into Google Chrome to capture the data easier.
ReplyDeletePlease don't go with Facebook. Just about anything else would be fine.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the rest - please don't go to Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI plan to stay with with this platform, despite losing quite a bit of archived data because of the "undo" glitch. It generally works pretty well for me, so I'll probably stay until I'm pushed.
In a word, Wordpress. It's good. It works. It even has a nice amount of flexibility to it.
ReplyDeleteI use it myself to yap at the world now and then.
http://jleagan.wordpress.com/
The only other thing to say is, for the love of God, forget Facebook, at least as a medium of writing.
JLE
I'm glad that you didn't mention quitting blogging as an option, Stuart. Thanks for that!
ReplyDeleteThere's no urgency yet. But in Google's next round of spring cleaning, who knows?
I suggest that at this stage you only need a contingency plan. But I vote for Wordpress, Typepad or similar. If you go to Facebook, I, like rjs, Nick, kjmclark and the others, will grieve and move on. And if there's a use for Twitter, blogging isn't it.
Please no Facebook, check out http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/14/google-reader/
ReplyDeleteI've been trying out tiny tiny RSS. Seems like an ok change (once I get used to it)
ReplyDeleteviv in nz
Facebook no. Probably WordPress.
ReplyDeleteAnd at the least, make it clear when you post a comment that the comment has been received and is waiting on the admin to approve. Currently, no feedback is given to indicate that the comment I post is actually in the que. The page just reloads as if I entered the captcha incorrectly.
I have never used, nor ever will use, Facebook. So, If this blog moves there, I will have to, regrettably, let it go.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Facebook ! Really ? You are kidding, right ? And now, the Google Monster is making it's moves and it would be wise to stay away from now on. Some good suggestions in the comments. Most important: keep your blogging alive !
ReplyDeleteAnd good luck ! ;) Cheers !
Not Facebook for sure !!
ReplyDeleteWordpress or another dedicated blog platform seems like a good option.
As to the reader, personnally I use netvibes and find it very convenient.
Wordpress, not FB please
ReplyDeletePlease, not facebook, Hate it with a passion :)
ReplyDeleteJohn
PS your Captcha is REALLY difficult for people with failing eyesight...
Holy moly, I just can't agree with all the above anti-faceboom comments. They're all from luddites. So I'm making this comment to provide some balance.
ReplyDeleteI think you should definitely move your blog to facebook.
FB is good.
FB is your friend.
I run my life on FB, everyone else should too.
FB will always be there for you.
There is only one true statement in this comment.
No to Faustbook. You will lose this reader if you go there.
ReplyDeleteI don't care if you go to Wordpress, tumblr, or anywhere else - except Facebook. As long as you have an open RSS feed I can subscribe to it's all the same to me. But that rules out Facebook. Go there, and you disappear from my universe.
ReplyDeleteAs for a recommendation, I use Wordpress. It's free if you have your own server to run it on. That in itself doesn't have to be an expensive option.
Mine runs on a server that is mostly there to host my personal media library, and could just as easily sit at home on a Fios connection using Dynamic DNS, if I didn't happen to have a free-hosting connection for the time being.
If this idea sounds interesting, check out Synology NAS products on Amazon. Synology makes storage appliances in a range of capacities and horsepower levels that all run linux behind their great and easy to use UI, which also supports a range of free application packages that are also easy to configure and administer. I found setting up the Wordpress blog very straightforward and I had never been a server admin.
I don't do Twitter or Facebook. How about Wordpress, Typepad or Weebly? Also blogspot has enough of a presence that it might persuade Google to let it stay.
ReplyDeleteI'd stay with Blogger for now and make a plan to shift to Wordpress or Typepad if Google ever announces they are closing Blogger - I'm still expecting that they won't do this - it must generate plenty of ad revenue (which Reader never did).
ReplyDeleteReader users will most likely just switch to Feedly and continue business as usual.
Twitter isn't an appropriate substitute and Facebook isn't very suitable either.
Keep up the good work !
+1 Wordpress, no facebook, that's what I'm going to do.
ReplyDeleteThat was so stupid of them. Stupid.
I'd say stick to Blogger. I tried Wordress for a while but was overwhelmed by the SEO topic. Blogger blogs are ranked higher. Besides, Blogger is Google's protégé.
ReplyDeleteFB is distracting..