If you’re using blogs in a class, chances are you’ll need to read and comment on classmates’ blogs on a regular basis, so I recommend that you find an easy way to keep track of their blogs.
While you could just bookmark each blog and visit it regularly, that’s not a particularly efficient way of reading on the web. Instead, I recommend that you try one of the methods below, which you might find helpful for keeping track of all kinds of reading material beyond this class.
Using a Feed Reader
The reason so many people publish on blog platforms is that blog platforms make it easy for viewers to subscribe to a “feed” of recent posts. Here are two free web-based feed readers you might try: Feedly.com or Digg.com/reader
To add a blog feed to either reader, simply copy and paste the blog’s URL and the feed reader will do the rest for you!
I’ve also created a feed for all of our class blogs on Protopage, just to test it out. Students can find a link to these feeds on the sidebar of their Class HUBs.
If you’ve ever wanted a “home page” you could use for saving quick notes and easily checking lots of news and social media sites at a glance, you might consider creating a free account on Protopage.com and giving it a try.
Using the “Follow” Feature
Blog platforms typically provide users a way to “follow” other bloggers on the same platform, by showing you a feed of their most recent posts after you log into the platform.
When you visit a classmate’s blog on a platform you also have an account on, you can click “follow” to keep track of that blog. This is particularly important for Tumblr users to do ASAP, as you won’t be able to comment on other Tumblr blogs until you’ve followed them for two weeks.
See the screenshots below for examples of what the “follow” buttons look like on each platform.
How to “Follow” Blogs
Tumblr
Blogger
WordPress
