If you use Google Reader to scan your news feeds, then you should definitely try out Feedly, a Firefox plugin that scans your Google Reader news feeds and presents your news in a more personalized magazine format.
Instead of spouting an endless stream of headlines, Feedly actually looks at your feeds, finds which ones are most popular and if your friends have recommended them as well. It takes the concept of news reading and makes it collaborative so you can see recommendations by tapping into your friends’ shared news items.
If you’re a Twitter or Friendfeed user, then you’re probably also recommending stories. With Feedly, there’s no need to jump to an URL shortening site like TinyURL and then hopping over to your Twitter application or Twitter.com to post a link. Instead, use Feedly’s Twitter integrated one click option for sending recommendations with shortened URLs. No need to leave Feedly.
Another great feature of Feedly is the Google search interaction. Any general Google search will also scan the last seven days of your personalized news feeds. If any stories match, it’ll appear at the top of your Google search results.
Feedly’s only downfall is because it has a magazine-like look and feel, it’s not good for a hardcore news reader that likes to scan hundreds of headlines really quickly. If that’s the case, then stay with Google Reader. But if you like things to be more digestible, give Feedly a chance. Either way, since they’re intertwined, you can have both running and take advantage of both of their capabilities whenever you want.
For a greater description of Feedly, read ReadWriteWeb’s piece.
I know I’m late to the game on Feedly as I saw stories as late as August of last year. Still, tip of the hat to my friend Josh Weinberg of Digital Life Consulting Group who told me about Feedly.
This news item is for the Spark Minute week of 2/23/09 which can be heard daily on Green 960 and 910 KNEW in San Francisco, CA.
