Google Is Killing Google Reader as of July 1: Now What?

Corporate giants work in mysterious ways. A case in point is Google’s decision to abruptly end its popular Google Reader service, which allows users to get “feeds” from their favorite blogs.

I don’t know how many of my followers here use Google Reader, but on Blog for Arizona— another blog where I post my writing– has almost 900 followers, with more than half of them using Google Reader to stay up-to-date with our musings.

What’s a person to do? So, you know the theory that if you ask the universe a question, the answer will appear to you? Well, that’s what happened today.

I Googled something completely unrelated to Google Reader’s death and up popped the following post about transporting your Google Reader blogs to Feedly.

Digging a little deeper, I found several other stories about what to do post-Google Reader. The catch is: If you want to maintain your current list of blogs to follow and you want to transfer said list to another service, you have to do it before July 1, 2013! (Or you are SOL and you have to re- assemble your favorites list.)

Here’s what The Verge says about Feedly…

Feedly appears to be the heir apparent to Google Reader’s throne, a modern take on RSS that blends some of the niceties of Flipboard (like a “magazine view”) with useful Reader features like keyboard shortcuts and tags. But its biggest advantage may be that it’s the only RSS application that also has excellent and free companion mobile apps. In a world without the ubiquitous Google Reader API, building your own mobile apps is the only way to make sure you can pick up where you left off — in this way, Feedly is the only real Google Reader alternative.

From Sue’s News…

I’m sure most of you are aware that Google Reader will be a thing of the past on July 1st. For months I have been trying to figure out how to stay in touch with the blogs that matter most to me, and I have finally made a decision. Yesterday, I joined Feedly and was happy to find that all of my “followed” blogs from Google Reader transferred over at the click of a button. What’s more, by choosing the “magazine” format, I have been able to approximate the look I am used to, and I think this will be a smooth transition for me.

Having said that, I am not pleased with this latest action taken by Google. I’m not sure why they keep pulling the plug on services loyal customers have enjoyed over the years, and their doing so continues to erode my trust in them. Still, I am going to push forward as best I can. Who knows? Eventually, Google may let Blogger go as well, at which time I will probably move to WordPress and get used to that, too. [P2H here: I switched two of my old Blogger blogs to Word Press, after I heard that Google ended the free web creation service.}

For now, the main thing is staying in touch with all of you, and Feedly will allow me to do that. Just wanted to spread the word in case others are worried about the same thing I was…the prospect of losing touch with blogs and bloggers I have grown to care about.

Our connections are worth preserving!

=)

PS. You will need to make the change prior to July 1st or the data from Google Reader will be lost, leaving you to recreate the list of blogs you follow as best you can.

PPS. I just joined Bloglovin, too. It was easy to transfer my Google Reader stuff with just one click, though the site does a lot less than Feedly. However, it has a social component Feedly doesn’t have. Over time, I will decide which one I prefer!