Slashdot Mirror
Google Reader's Social Features Merging With Google+
MrSeb writes "Moments ago, Google announced that Reader, as soon as next week, will be moving closer to Google+. Many of its social features (friending, following, sharing) are being buried in favor of Google+ equivalents. Fortunately, Reader has always had the ability to export your RSS subscriptions and feed groups in the widely-accepted OPML format, and over the next few days this will be expanded to include your shared items, friends, likes, and starred items as well."
Update: 10/21 01:15 GMT by S : Updated headline and summary to reflect that Reader will be sticking around as a standalone product. According to Google, only its social features are being merged.
From the first comment in the linked article:
"To clarify, Google Reader remains a stand-alone product. What is being announced is threefold: 1) Addition of sharing to Google+. 2) A new modern design. 3) Retiring of the dedicated sharing model.
This statement ( It will be impossible to use Google Reader as a standalone product) is incorrect. You can continue reading your feeds in Reader independent of Google+."
Louis Gray (G+ evangelist, hired by Google) said:
To clarify, Google Reader remains a stand-alone product. What is being announced is threefold: 1) Addition of sharing to Google+. 2) A new modern design. 3) Retiring of the dedicated sharing model.
This statement ( It will be impossible to use Google Reader as a standalone product) is incorrect. You can continue reading your feeds in Reader independent of Google+.
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/101011-6-google-reader-replacements#dsq-comment-23863
Dilbert RSS feed
If this means I can no longer read my RSS feeds in Opera, then I'm off to find another RSS reader. I'd use G+ a lot more if it would work in Opera without having to tell G+ it's Fx or IE
Great news. I'm a google reader user and that will increase g+ use.
Which is fine. Those are natural for Google+.
http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2011/10/upcoming-changes-to-reader-new-look-new.html
As long as it still works as a sync agent for Reeder on Mac and iOS, I could care less. Reeder is so much better than the Reader interface anyway.
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups.
Maybe this means that I will finally be able to remove that one article in my feed that I haven't been able to get to delete for the past three years, no matter what I do.
Since Google+ is blocked at work, I will no longer be able to use Google Reader on my lunch hour!
Reader isn't the only app now forcing G+. I use Latitude to track my travel time and time spent at job sites. In order to save a new location, I am now being forced to use G+. I don't do social net sites, no face, no space. What's up Google? What happened to do no evil? Facebook have too much market cap?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
it's a cool service that google hasn't upgraded in years and the sharing is next to worthless unless you know the person you're sharing with
They also said yesterday or today that Apps support for Plus is coming real soon. So perhaps this will be it. I know we've been waiting for a very long time for our Apps accounts to become full Google accounts. Moving Reader would be far too foolish if the merge wasn't ready on day one.
I post things to my Reader feed. I don't have *that* many subscribers, but I'd like to replicate the experience in G+. Namely:
1. Third parties should be able to subscribe/unsubscribe to my feed
2. My feed should not be shown to non-subscribers in my G+ circles
3. I should be able to add stories to my feed with a bookmarklet
4. People should be able to subscribe to my feed with an RSS reader
AFAIK, all of this is currently impossible in G+. So... it's a downgrade for the moment.
First, make sure you understanding the issue - you won't need a G+ account to use Reader!
As for suggestions, try NewsBlur.
Dilbert RSS feed
(...) does that mean you will no longer be able to use it?
No. According to a comment by a Google employee and G+ evangelist, Reader will still be standalone and current users don't need to do anything to keep using it as is. It just changes the sharing features.
Dilbert RSS feed
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=google+reader
Well for me its all bad.
For one, i refuse to get a Google+ account, so if I'm forced to do this, I wont use reader anymore.
Second, my job blocks all social networking sites. Even if I wanted to make a concession in the sake of Reader, I wont be able to use it at work since it will be blocked. This also means every single employee of my company (huge international company) wont be using Reader during work hours anymore.
Guess it's time for me to find RSS software that can cross-platform sync via Dropbox. Heck, I may find a new hobby writing one myself.
Summary is blatantly incorrect. Google Reader will still function standalone. This is about incorporating Google Reader into G+ for people who're already using it (So Google employees, Will Wheaton, Felicia Day, and me). What will change on Google Reader is it will lose whatever social bullshit it had before that I wasn't using anyway; which were actually added after Google Reader's inception in response to social hives of bickering and misinformation like Reddit. In other words, those who liked bickering over politics and science with their degrees and diplomas from Google U and Wikipedia Community College can still do that, over on Google+; those who just want to read their damn news can still do that, without Google+
Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
Well for me its all bad. For one, i refuse to get a Google+ account, so if I'm forced to do this, I wont use reader anymore.
I'm of the Same opinion. I never used the social aspects of Google Reader anyway, but I use the Reader part all the time.
If that breaks, I'm off to any one of dozen other feed aggregators.
But the revised summary indicates Reader will stay around, and without that social layer on top it will actually serve its intended purpose better.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
quite a valid point, however, do they state whether the URLs are going to change, or if the only real difference is the addition of sharing to Google+ instead of the weird mini social network that you currently share items to. Same with likes. And a redesign.
Not sure how it's anti competitive when they already had share to facebook and twitter years ago and this just seems to replace the weird mini network with google+
Google reader has social features?!
I use it daily—it's a great RSS reader, and being on the web makes it much handier than standalone apps—but I never even realized it had "social features"... hmm now that I think about it, I guess it does have "like" buttons and that sorta thing...
But if it does, switching to the Google+ equivalents seems a pretty reasonable move; duplicating this sort of functionality just seems silly. They should probably try to keep them optional though (using the reader without a G+ login would just disable the like buttons etc), to avoid pissing off all the Google+ haters.
We live, as we dream -- alone....
To me, this seems to be more of a reaction than anything strategic. It's like Google's high poobahs were sitting around discussing why Google+ is failing, and they all agreed the solution is to force people to use Google+ if at all possible.
I'm beginning to wonder if they're trying to figure out how to force Gmail users to go through Google+.
#DeleteChrome
Still trolling for Microsoft hey?
I know it's a fairly common ploy here on Slashdot - but replying to an intelligently written post with a mindless "you're a troll" or "you're a shill" response doesn't sway anyone towards your opinion.
Actually, I am not sure you put enough thought into this to even qualify as having an opinion.
#DeleteChrome
Google has many products that no-one has ever heard of. So whether they merge one unheard of app with another unheard of app, isn't really 'stuff that matters' is it?
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Back to bloglines ? I migrated away when they were closing down, and after their reopening never went back.
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashdot.org Errors found while checking this document as HTML5!
Yep, same for me. This will end reader for me as well. I guess I'll have to start moving over to a different aggregator. Sigh.
This would certainly explain why the Reader link recently disappeared from the Gmail navigation bar. I find it really unfortunate that Google decided to string us along for so long, offering alternatives like "use a bookmark." Google has yet to sell me on +, and I am far from convinced that merging Reader into the fold will do much to change that. The time is fast approaching to move to a new RSS reader.
Aikon-
So, great that everyone with free account will get these synergies from G+. Google's own customers (Domain Apps) still don't have Google+.
So, either create a free GMail account (and deal with the crap of having two Google accounts) or move your stuff somewhere else.
How exactly was GP trolling for Microsoft?
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
I wonder how long it will be before the announcement that they are merging blogger and blogspot into google+
This is copied from elsewhere. You can already great a custom 'send to' using the following:
Gear > Reader settings > Send to > Create custom link :https://ssl.gstatic.com/s2/oz/images/favicon.ico
Name: Google+
URL: https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/confirm?url=${url}
Icon URL
It enables you to send things from reader to your stream easily. All this announcement really is, is a formalization of the above 'hack'. This is because buzz is dead and instead of sharing there by default, you will now share to plus.
As long as Reader is still Readable (usable). They could also merge Buzz and Youtube with G+. For me Youtube is Google's main social network not G+, and would benefit from G+ features.
Sig? Heil
I don't believe he was, the AC was probably just trolling for you and anyone else that would bite.
Hmm. I can use Reader from my app account, but still can't use plus, there. I wonder if that's gonna change.
Not really. For once I did not have to share any personal information with the people who "followed" me - or Google itself for the matter.
To me, Google Reader's Shared Items was the perfect "social network." This was as much of a "social" interaction as I need: stories and news few close to me people are interested in, probably with their comments. Not between me, my friends, Google and whole shebang of random strangers - but just between me and my friends.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
Seriously.... best reply I've read here yet. Offtopic.. pffft!
That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
just bad altogether. Even if you are ok w/ G+ the reader is now useless. I'm usually not one of those folks that cries out loud everytime Facebook changes something. But I really use Reader all the time everyday and they've F'd up the navigation and usability so much. At first glance it looked like an improvement. But after trying to use it I have to just find another product.