Aggregation: iGoogle + Google Reader vs. Netvibes
This week’s module has been all about aggregation. Here’s a definition written by two of my classmates (posted here):
Aggregation refers to collecting content from multiple social media sites (such as Facebook or Twitter) with the goal to organize and simplify users’ social networking experiences. While individual sites may offer unique features specific to that site, social networking aggregation collects the content that is produced on several sites and delivers it in a less overwhelming way. Aggregating content is performed by using tools to draw information from different sites into a single space. Aggregation services provide tools and widgets — either downloadable or web-based — that function to consolidate friends, bookmarks, messages and profiles in easy, digestible formats. Aggregation is done by an application programming interface (API).
I personally use a couple of different aggregators (does this defeat the purpose?), but my primary aggregator is a combination of iGoogle and Google Reader. I’ve been using it for a couple of years, and am generally pleased with it.
What I like about Google Reader:
- The interface is clean and simple.
- It’s easy to switch between viewing only new items and all items. I usually just view new items.
- I can do a text search of my GR content.
- Feeds can be organized into folders, and individual posts can be tagged (though I wish I could tag whole feeds at once).
- It’s easy to star, share and comment on posts.
- I like the “trends” feature. I don’t use it for any real purpose, it’s just to satisfy my curiosity every now and then.
- I don’t feel like I have to read everything at once: it’s easy to skip things to read later, and if I haven’t read the last 1000+ posts in a feed, I know it’s time to unsubscribe.
The downside of GR:
- Certain tasks are difficult. I have to consult the help page every time I want to add a new folder, because it isn’t intuitive. Unsubscribing from feeds isn’t intuitive either.
- The formatting is almost entirely removed from the original post. This is great for skimming, but if I want the full experience of an item I have to open the original page. It also isn’t great for fashion, art and craft blogs.
iGoogle:
- I use iGoogle as my homepage. I have “gadgets” for all of the things I check regularly: my Twitter and Facebook feeds, Gmail, calendar, RSS feeds for a couple of websites, Google maps, weather, and an overview of GR.
- The interface is clean, and I could change the theme if I wanted to.
- The gadgets can be moved around the page drag-and-drop style. My information habits change fairly frequently, so it’s great that I can change the layout of my homepage in seconds.
Netvibes
We looked at lots of neat aggregators this week. I’d like to try out an open source aggregator (Drupal, maybe) but don’t have the time to devote to learning it right now. I was inspired to try out Netvibes after watching this video and seeing how Dr. Michael Wesch has incorporated social media into his university classroom using Netvibes: http://www.netvibes.com/wesch#Anthro_Blogs. Another major bonus of using Netvibes is that I’m not entrusting all of my information to one corporation. For my own personal use, I would use my Netvibes dashboard in much the same way as I currently use my Google software, but with a couple of differences:
- The dashboard has tabs, so I can categorize my feeds into pages rather than folders. This is my favourite feature.
- The pages can be viewed by feed (one long chronological list of posts) or by widget (each feed has its own box, which can be easily moved around the page. Unfortunately, I have to choose one view for my entire dashboard: I would prefer to view certain tabs as one feed and other tabs in widgets.
- RSS feeds in widgets can be viewed in a number of ways. I can customize each widget, so I have control over whether pictures and other formatting are shown.
- Netvibes is esthetically more pleasing, but not so busy as to distract from my content.
- The Netvibes site is a bit slower than Google.
- It’s more difficult to skim my Netvibes dashboard.
The Verdict
For my own use, I’m sticking with Google. Being able to skim my content and then decide what I want to read more closely is a necessity. Also, it’s just easier to stick with what I know. But if I were setting up an account for use in a library or an educational setting, I would likely choose Netvibes. It’s more visually interesting, and would be great to be able to split content up into different tabs.
What does everyone else use? I see from our class discussion that Google Reader is popular. Has anyone had more experience with Netvibes?
Jess, I have the same frustrations when viewing fashion and DIY blogs through Google Reader. I find it especially irritating when all except for a snippet of the first sentence is included — the reason I’m using GR is to read a post there, not to have to open it up elsewhere.
For visual aggregation, I have found Pinterest to work especially well. I find it fairly easy to skim through the pinned images to find what I am looking for and making use of tags helps with text searches, too. Pinterest is great for visual scanning, but if you want the directions to bake that chocolate cake or knit that scarf, you do need to click to the external link, which makes for another step. All platforms seem to have their pros and cons.
Courtney
11 Aug 11 at 12:28
Strangely, I had never heard of iGoogle before… I’ve been using Google Reader for a few months now. I have to say that I like its integration with other apps and services I use to be my favourite feature.
I checked out iGoogle and Netvibes based on your post… And I found them a little too busy and visual. I’ve just never been a visually oriented person, so having all that stuff to look at just ends up frustrating me.
Anyway, thanks for the great write-up on all of this.
adejesus
12 Aug 11 at 13:38
Thanks for the great breakdown Jess. I’m finding that learning about all these new programs at once is pretty overwhelming so your pros/cons lists are very helpful. I know that most of the websites have instructional videos but after you watch a few of them in a row they start to all blend together.
Seanna
14 Aug 11 at 18:55