Make the switch to Bloglovin'.

You know those relationships where the other person is mean to you 

and makes you break off things first 

so they don't have to feel guilty about ending it with you?

I feel like Google Reader is doing that right now.

When I got the "notice" last night that as of July 1st, Google Reader will be dunzo, I felt like it was their way of being mean to me and forcing me to make a decision to end things first. Annoying.

I've had an account with Bloglovin for a while, but it never seemed to make sense to me.

But they're truly enjoying the fact that Google Reader has kicked us to the curb.

I dove all in, stayed up until 1AM trying to figure out how to transfer blogs I follow 

(and then categorize them), and slowly watched my followers go up. 

Let's be honest. I write for myself and because I want to. But it's nice having an audience. Amirite?

I feel like I need to give Bloglovin an honest try.

Thank goodness, I'm on vacation so I can spend every waking moment figuring this out.

Just kidding, but it's really very cold outside and I have nothing else going on.

Here's what I like:

- You can set-up an account for free.

- You can add a widget linking to your blog here. 

- You can transfer your blogs from Google Reader by following this.

- You can add an extension to your browser. I use Chrome so I used this extension.

- From there you can easily scroll through the blogs you follow. 

- The blogger gets a page view (unlike when they read your blog through Google Reader).

- You're on the actual blog so it's easy to leave a comment (which was not true for Google Reader).

via.

Here's what confuses me:

- I can't figure out how to tell who is following me. I like this feature of Google Reader since it helps you know who your audience is, and lets you follow them back so you get to know the people who are getting to know you. Maybe, I'm missing something?

- I can't figure out how to link my Facebook page with Bloglovin. It looks like you can link your personal Facebook account but not a Facebook page?

Here's something that amazed me:

- At first my blog was listed twice. I don't know why or how. But I emailed them and not only did they fix it within a few hours but they emailed me back to tell me it was all set. Oh, customer service -- how I appreciate thee.

So, make the switch. It's fun and exciting over here.