read in slow speed

i wish there were more hours to spend on the blog. not mine necessarily, although learning to put links to all the blogs i like reading would be a good thing to do.

instead of reading the daily offerings from the blogs i like each day, i usually end up reading a week or months posts when time allows. and even then, i probably don't leave a comment, especially when i feel that someone else had said what i wanted to express. (i can usually rely on boulder to voice what i was thinking pretty well, thank you for that miss bee.)

and then there are the people who write me, or post comments, that i usually do not write back. i know they understand, and when i can i send them a quick note, but there are only so many hours a day i can spend infront of the computer. and that's not a lot.

are there shortcuts to reading blogs that you want to share with me? confessionals? you can send those to my email or post them here. any suggestions on how to be most efficient with reading other people's blogs, when you comment, when you dont...i'd love to hear them.

how many blogs do you read per day? week? how many comments do you leave? if you don't leave a comment, why not?

Comments

[Leggy]

Bloglines is a lifesaver (www.bloglines.com). Then I can see who's posted recently and most of the time read the post from bloglines without having to click from one blog to another.
I tend to comment fairly often, mostly because I have a big mouth and have a lot to say. Also, I always wonder why the amount of traffic I get or # of people subscribed to my blog doesn't translate into same # of comments, so I try to offer a comment just to show support. But everyone has different levels of busy-ness and time available, so you just have to do whatever works for you.
P.S. I really love the new pictures. They all look like little kids now and not much like babies anymore.

[knobody]

if any of the blogs you read have an rss/atom feed you can keep up to date with a feed reader like mozilla (no relation to The Mozilla) thunderbird or google reader.

for me, except for you and mc, the blogs i tend to read are all on livejournal so i just go to my livejournal friends page and i see all the new posts right there on one page. i tend to comment when i can, but can't always think of just the right thing to say (i'm no good at that supportive and caring stuff, at least through words) and i frequently get interrupted (!) and forget to go back and comment later.

i wish i could read faster too. about 200 wpm is about all i can manage with this addled brain. how do i get enough time on the computer? easy, i just ignore my family! works wonders for online time and sanity too.

[Tertia]

You aren't on bloglines??? Spank that husband of yours! I told him about it last week already. Bad husband, BAD.

Bloglines is fantastic, I would never ever be able to keep if I didn't have bloglines.

I also wish I had more time. To write and to read.

[Laura (Merry Mom)]

I check your blog daily and read your blog whenever you post.
I've been stalking you ever since you were pregnant with Seb and you were a Merry Mom. (just kidding, I'm not really a stalker) I followed the triplets story and it just became a habit to check on you. I don't know why I never comment...never even thought about it.....

[Boulder]

Thank you for your kind compliment - great minds think alike, I think...

I gave up on bloglines, and use a desktop software instead. I use a mac, so I use "NetNewsWire." The reason I like it is that I use a laptop, and it will download the posting to my laptop, and I can read them without my internet connection being on, if I choose (which I rarely do, but it is nice to have the option).

It is also great, because it relies on my internet connection speed to load updates, and to click through to a post if I want to comment, rather than using bloglines to do it.

But in the interest of accuracy, I do still maintain my bloglines subsciptions, so that I can read my favored authors from any computer anywhere in the world, as long as I can sign on to a web browser.

For the blogs that I read regularly that are either IF or pregnancy or parenting blogs, there are 178 (!!) feeds. BUT, I find that there are only about 20-60 posts each day (and some of the feeds are duplicates as people move their blogs around). I read very quickly, and it doesn't take me long to go through them. I have anther 40-60 blogs that are news, computing, hobby/interest, gossip related. Those can generate 200+ posts a day, but for the most part, I read the headline (just like a newspaper) and only read the more catchy items.

I comment when I have something to say on the matter - funny, honest, congratulatory, affirming or to offer condolences. If I have trouble coming up with the wording, I'll click through, leave it open and come back if I'm still wanting to add my thoughts. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I also go on hiatus from reading/posting at times - but I've found that having the desktop aggregator brings me huge efficiencies.

xoxo

[Alison]

I read 21 blogs. I know because I have dialup so when I read them, I open 7 at a time so that they will slowly load and I can read them then move on to the next 7. LOL

I probably leave comments about 50% of the time. I tend to leave comments on blogs where there are fewer comments because when there are lots of comments, I find that someone else has already said exactly what I would say (only much better). Sometimes it depends on how slow my internet connection is -- if it will take me 2 hours to leave comments while the page loads up, I'll either wait and add comments later or skip it. :)

[Jodi]

Hello! I am from the TTC.com website (mom2dd3). I just wanted to tell how adorable your children are, what cuties! Your family has been in my prayers and thoughts from the time that the trio was born. Your story is amazing.

Your blog was one of the first ones that I ever read. Now I am a blog addict and have my own (www.jodiknight.blogspot.com) I usually don't comment alot, more of a lurker on my friends blogs and scrapbooking blogs. I usually like reading other Mom's blogs too. I think it is a great outlet for moms and a great way to share in this busy world!

Jodi
Manchester, NH

[Polly]

I have 8 blogs bookmarked and only check 2-3 of them daily (dim sum mum is one of them because it is well written, and writing is key for me--not to mention that I'm captivated by hong kong and the terrific trio/seb stories), the rest of the bookmarked blogs I will skim, and I do mean SKIM through about 1-2 times per week at most. Have only made comments here and at one other blog just b/c someone else usually says what I'm thinking also. Time is an issue for me and that's one reason I'm very limited in the blogs I check/read--many friends/family are far away so email is more of time-priority than blog reading but I do try to skim everything at least once a week if I can. I also just haven't found or even looked for blogs--I'm sure there are great ones out there that I'd love in addition to the ones I read but I just haven't even begun to look!!!

[DebbieS]

Oh gosh, I read probably about 20 blogs a day, mostly from Julie's blogroll (which I really would love to be on). I try to comment whenever I can, kind of like saying something nice whenever you're thinking it. Luckily I'm a speed-reader, which leaves me more time to commment since I don't need so much time to read! I didn't know about Bloglines, though!

It took me awhile to figure Typepad out enough to link to my faves, and I still haven't linked to all ofthem, since I like to ask first (not sure of thenetiquette and all that.) Now that I think of it, can I link to yours? You can check mine out at www.acharmedlife.typepad.com. Oh, and to link to your own faves, just go under "Typelists", and choose the one called "Link". Copy and paste the link, and then it will ask you for what you want that link to be called. I think that's what you were asking about, but I apologize if I've overstated the obvious! (It was SO not obvious to me!)