Sunday, April 13, 2008

Unsubscribing from good weblogs

Google News via WikipediaI recently discovered a new kind of routine I have been developing in reading other weblogs, and it might happen to others in a similar way.
First, a bit of history on the English-language weblog scene focusing on China. When this new tool developed and slowly entered also the habit of China-based internet users. At first every newcomer in the block was greeted with enthusiasm, regardless of the quality or the focus of the block.
But their numbers started to grow and I had to make for the first time a selection. I then made a few enemies by kicking out all the English-language teachers who had nothing else to offer apart from their rather basic observations of what was happening in China. What makes weblogs interesting is if people have a real life beyond the classroom and have something to say. Most English teachers did not belong to this category.
Now I'm subscribed to almost 300 rss-feeds, 200 of whom go to other weblogs and website (the rest would be links to Google News feeds for specific searches). But yet again, I have to skip too many weblogs entries, but I discovered I'm actually unsubscribing from weblogs that are actually very good, but too specialized.
There is a great number of weblogs that have become actually very good but way to specialized. What am I talking about? Cars, Chinese law, music, intellectual property, logistics, sourcing, to mention a few. I would still religiously read all stuff I can find on the (new) media, internet but might have to start sifting here too.
I would still go back to those specialized weblogs, but only if they are being mentioned by others. The English-language online media on China is still a niche market, but really a niche market that is getting too big for me.
How do you manage your information overflow?

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