Productivity | Battle of the Blog Readers

I wanted to make sure that I chose the best option for me, so I exported my list to both BlogLovin’ and Feedly, and have been giving each a bit of a test-drive.  May sound a little overboard to some, but when you’re as immersed in the blogging world as I am, the method of keeping track of everything is pretty important!

As of right now, Feedly is definitely the front runner for me, and here are just a few reasons why I’m a big fan:

• Clean design with lots of customization options… and I especially love that if you have your feeds organized into sections (either before or after the import), you have the ability to use different settings for each one.
• Love the option to view your summarized posts on single lines, as thumbnails, or in a traditional chronological stream.
• Like Google Reader, blogs can be sorted into folders and tagged – This makes going back and finding things later a breeze!
• Social network and other sharing options are made very easy, and you can even PIN from the in-app posts without having to click through, and it actually links back to the original URL!  So amazing when you’re as addicted to Pinterest as I am. :)
• Importing and setup was really easy.  If you’re already using a reader, it’s literally one or two clicks of a button.
• One thing to note (makes me a little nervous): Feedly is currently running with Google Reader functioning in the background.  The good news is that Feedly is building its own back-end that will activate on July 1st when Reader ends, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s stays just as amazing as it currently is.
• The mobile app is incredible and was pretty much what sealed the deal for me.  I read 90% of the blogs I follow while I’m on the road, and having a well-designed and functional app is key!

Bloglovin’ has quite a few of the same strong points (clean design, organization, super-easy importing/set-up), but there are just a few small things that I don’t care for: they’ve made it tricky to click through to the original URL which makes pinning a little tough, and I’ve recently begun to see ads interspersed between each post.

It’s really just a matter of preference, but I’m actually happier with Feedly than I was using Google Reader in the first place, so win-win for little ol’ me. :)

For today’s Let’s Dish, I’d love to know: How do you currently read the blogs you follow? By email subscription? Facebook/twitter feed? Do you use a reader, and if so, which one?

Share your favorite “feeder” in the comments, and I’ll look forward to dishing with you there!