Why Aren't You Using a Reader?

How do you access my blog?

Do you use a reader like GoogleReader? Do you have it in your "favorites" or "bookmarks?" Do you just remember the domain name and type it into your address bar? Do you use the links on your own blog and click to mine?

All of these are acceptable, except the last one. Stop doing that. Stop it now. You are messing up my statistics. Yes, you. You who are clicking on your own blog and coming to mine. See, I use GoogleAnalytics, and it tells me where my traffic is coming from. It says that a lot of traffic is coming from you, but I feel confident that that's not true. Really it's just you coming from your blog, nobody else.

And here's why you should use a reader (of any kind. I really don't care if you use Google or not).

• It's easy. EASY. Sign up. Tell it what blogs you like. It pulls all those blogs into one handy screen for you.
• You don't have to waste your time checking blogs that haven't been updated in days, weeks, months, lifetimes, etc.
• You can SEARCH. It's awesome! You can search all of the blogs that you read. So if you know that somebody posted about their trip to Mars, but you can't remember who, just do a search, and you've got it.
• Right from the get-go you know how many people have posted if any. On GoogleReader, it shows it right in the center there. See the image? See how I had new posts to read from the Wilkinson Quints, Ana and the New York Times Columnists? See how it was all in ONE handy-dandy location? Awesome.
• Once you've selected (from the left) what blog you are reading, you can decide that if you don't like the title, you can click "Mark As Read." That way you don't have to read it, and the blogger doesn't get traffic for it. Also, it's nice in case you get behind on your reading. Click "Mark All as Read" and you're done. You don't have to read to catch up!
• You can share things with other people who use your reader, you can classify things into folders, you can star your favorite items, and Google even helps you "discover" more blogs you like.

So, what are you waiting for? Get signed up for a reader.

And if you're not going to do that, at least add me as a favorite and stop using your own blog as a way to get to mine. Okay? Thanks!