How to Set Up Your News Feed on Google

NOTE:  GOOGLE READER WAS DISCONTINUED IN 2013.            

I thought it would be worthwhile to explain how to set up your news feed reader on google.  For some of you this may be elementary, in which case I invite you to peruse some of my other postings (if you type "pentagonism" in the search bar it will bring up some funny past posts).
          Perhaps first I should let you know why you want to set up your google reader.  When I arrived at my current gig in the PGON I was immediately overwhelmed by both the sheer amount of information available and the huge number of countries in Africa...seriously 53 countries for two desk officers?!
         And I remember that it took me a little while to discover Google Reader and then it took me a while to figure out the best way to set it up, and the best way to use it.  Hopefully, this can save some of my readers some time.

Step 1
Get a google account...still rolling hotmail or yahoo?  You're out of luck.


Step 2

Now go to the "reader" tab.  The first time you go there you will probably see a pop up:

Getting started with Google Reader

by the Google Reader team

Reader is like a magazine you design

Google Reader lets you subscribe to your favorite websites so new content comes to you when it's posted. Google Reader collects information from news sites, blogs, and other sources on the topics of your choice, and lets you read it all in one place.

 Scroll down to learn how it works

So then you can scroll down to get the basics on how it all works.  

Step 3

Now click the "add subscriptions" and paste in any websites that you read or check on a regular basis.  If you aren't sure of the address you can type in the keywords and it will give you a bunch of options of which to select.   You can also click my "FAO blog lists" if you need some ideas or starting points.
NOTE:  Please send me any of your favorites or suggestions at jackfaokruse@gmail.com

Step 4

This step isn't necessarily evident but I have found it to be the most useful.  Say you don't have a particular website you need to read but you want to know whenever a certain phrase, word, or country pops up online.  This is what Google "Alerts" are for.  


So click the "more" tab and then at the bottom there click the "even more".  This will bring up a whole list, the first of which is "Alerts".  Once you click on this, you will be able to type in the word, country or phrase.  You can also choose how often you want it updated and what sources you want searched.   NOW THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART: the last dropdown defaults to delivering to your inbox...you DON'T want this--it defeats the whole purpose of using the reader.  So change that option to "feed"  


Step 5
ENJOY using your reader every day.  It also works great on your iphone directly on the Safari browser.  


FUUO Tip:  When you read something even remotely interesting make sure you click the "star" button.  This makes it easier to find later, otherwise the articles can be hard to find once they are read.  

How do YOU get your news?  


What's your system?