Jason Unger

Goodbye, Sage. Hello, Google Reader

Posted by junger - 06/03/08 at 10:06:28 pm

Dear Sage,

I'm sorry to tell you … it's over between us.

I've moved on. I'm drinking the Kool-Aid. I'm a Google Reader user now.

You were my first RSS reader, and I'll remember our days fondly. You taught me about the importance of website headlines, and why content should come to me … not the other way around.

But you were almost too easy to use. I could have you open throughout the day and check you constantly. It was a real time suck. How could I ever get anything done if you were constantly teasing me with your new stories?

Google Reader is different. I actually have to go to a page to read stories. And it's made it obvious that I was overloaded with feeds. Believe it or not, I've cut down. I have to, or I'll never keep up.

It's been a difficult transition — I've already failed at it once — but this time it's going to stick. Sage, I'll always remember you as my first RSS reader, but it's time to move on.

Thanks for all the memories.

Your friend,
Jason

5 Ways to Automate Your Facebook Experience

Posted by junger - 05/12/08 at 03:05:44 pm

Automating your life is easier than you think.

My finances are on autopilot — and it's been the best thing ever.

Not only does it save you boatloads of time, but it's actually pretty comforting.

So how do you automate the biggest time waster in your life — Facebook? It's easier than you think.

Here are 5 ways to automate your Facebook experience.

Import Blog Posts as Notes

Every one of your blog posts can automatically be imported into your profile — easily. In Facebook:

• Click on "Notes" on your left-hand Applications navigation.
• On the right-hand nav, click on "Import a blog" under Notes Settings
• Enter your blog URL, check off box, and click "Start Importing"
• Verify your RSS feed is appearing correctly, and "Confirm Import"

Ta-da! Your blog posts are now automatically being imported into Facebook.

Subscribe to Friend Updates via RSS

Find what your friends are doing by getting their status updates delivered to you via RSS.

On facebook.com/friends, click on "Friends' Status Feed" in the right-hand column.

Subscribe to the feed in your favorite RSS reader (I recommend Firefox's Live Bookmarks, since there isn't anything more to read than the one-line status).

Sync Your Twitter and Status

Why update your Facebook status if you're using Twitter to do essentially the same thing?

TwitterSync automatically posts your latest Tweets as your status. You can add a verb like "tweets," or "is twittering," "is," etc. before the update, or leave it completely blank.

The official Twitter app also syncs your status and tweets, but (until recently) automatically adds "is twittering" before posting your status.

Add Flickr, Digg, del.icio.us to your News Feed

Don't waste your time uploading your pictures, bookmarks and more to a specific service and to Facebook — automatically import them into your Mini-Feed.

On your profile page, under the Mini-Feed header, click "Import." This will allow you to import items from

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• Flickr
• Picasa
• Yelp

Share Stories with Shareaholic

Instead of heading to Facebook to post links or stories on your profile, use Shareaholic.

The Firefox plugin lets you share any Web page on Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Mixx and more without leaving the actual page.

What did I miss? How are you automating your Facebook experience?

Subscribe to Updates via Email, RSS or Twitter

Posted by junger - 04/15/08 at 05:04:26 pm

If you're only checking the blog when the spirit moves you, you're missing out on a lot of good content.

Consider signing up for updates via email or subscribing to the RSS feed (if you don't know what that means, get the email updates).

Both methods allow new stories to get sent straight to you; it's perfect if you don't have the time to surf on over to the site. Literally, the entire story comes your way — not just a headline and a link.

If you're interested in finding out more on a meta level, consider adding me to your Twitter account (that's what that little box on the left is, Mom).

I'm very good about keeping up with the people who are keeping up with me — so if you've got a blog or a Twitter account or just want to be friends on Facebook or LinkedIn, let me know and we'll make that connection.

Don't worry, I won't sell you on eBay.

Sign up for email updates

Subscribe to the RSS feed

Follow me on Twitter

Freaking Freakonomics RSS Feed Controversy

Posted by junger - 08/22/07 at 10:08:31 pm

Who'd have thought that RSS feeds could cause such a controversy?

Well, they can. Just ask the subscribers of the Freakonomics blog, formerly an independent blog but now a part of the NY Times media group.

The blog, written by the authors of Freakonomics, the social economics masterpiece (IMHO), has recently switched from full site RSS feeds to partial feeds.

Steven Dubner, author and blogger, admits that the switch came because of the new "partnership" with the NY Times. "Yes, this is a result of our new partnership with NYTimes.com. You can blame the Times if you want, but that would be unfair and imprecise, since this is a partnership, which means that you should also feel free to blame us," he writes.

TechDirt has taken them to task, and pointed out why full site feeds actually increase traffic. "The whole idea is that by making it easier and easier for anyone to read and fully grasp our content, the more likely they are to spread it via word of mouth, and that tends to lead to much greater adoption than by limiting what we give to our readers and begging them to come to our site if they want to read more than a sentence or two."

As a web publisher and as a business person, I can see the arguments both ways. I know some people who won't subscribe to feeds that aren't full site. I know many who don't care.

There's absolutely no one who will only subscribe to to partial feeds, but there are plenty who want to read stories the way they want to. Why should we lose them as customers? As TechDirt implies, they're going to be more passionate about the content than drive-by-surfers.

It's a shame that such an interesting and unique brand like Freakonomics is selling out. But at least they're tackling the issue with their users.

The Secret to Boosting Your Site's Traffic Overnight

Posted by junger - 09/12/06 at 08:09:13 pm

Any blogger, Webmaster or site developer knows that the key to increasing your site's revenue is to increase the amount of traffic to the site. Promotion is obviously one way to do this, while regular content is another.

But while reaching out to a larger audience is necessary, it's not the best way to boost your site's traffic. The trick is in the writing — specifically, writing in such a way that your current audience (including RSS readers) will increase the number of pages they visit each time they come to the site.

So how do you do it?

Continue reading The Secret to Boosting Your Site's Traffic Overnight…