The easiest way to subscribe to a blog is by email. Look for this type of feature on the blogs you like. There are only three things to consider when doing this: 1) The person who runs the blog will now have your email address (I have never had my email shared with a third party, but I am just saying you should understand that you are sharing your email), 2) sometimes blog emails end up in your SPAM folder, so if you notice you aren't getting blog emails you subscribed to, then check your SPAM folder and consider adding the blogger's email address to your contacts and 3) Many blogs have other neat features or articles that are not included in an email subscription. Thus, consider visiting the actual blog from time -to-time versus only reading the blog emails you are sent. Look for a subscription window like this:
You can also subscribe to a a blog "feed." For people who read multiple blogs, this is an efficient way to subscribe. Instead of having your email inbox inundated with blog emails, you can access all the blogs you like using a Yahoo, Google or similar homepage. The most popular way to read multiple blogs right now is via Google's Reader which allows you to log onto your Google account and read all the latest blog entries in list form. Look for an image like this one below to subscribe to a blog feed:
Much like Facebook fans and for blog readers who like to leave comments, you can also "follow" a blog. For Upcycled Education, if you follow the blog you will need to log in using a Google, Yahoo or Twitter account (I believe) to begin following. Once you are a follower, it is super easy to leave comments on a blog post, tweet a post and see updates via Google's Blogger (which is like its own blog reading and creation program). For serious blog followers, "following" is a great resource as it rolls several features up into one: Seeing all your blogs at once via Google Reader or Blogger, being able to share the blog via Twitter and makes leaving blog comments a breeze. As an added bonus to the blog, it does show the blog some love - aka: popularity. The more followers, the better the blog circulation. Look for images like this below to begin following:
There are other ways to become more involved in blogging and subscribing. Right below each post on most blogs, you will see little icons. You can click on the appropriate icon to leave a comment, email a post to an interested friend, and share on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Look for this information below each post to extend your blog reading experience:
Most blogs will have similar features for subscribing and sharing. Be open to slightly different icons, but the functionality generally remains the same. If you haven't subscribed to Upcycled Education, practice subscribing using one of the ideas above and see what you think. Remember, this blog ends in mid-May - bittersweet, I know.
Happy blog subscribing and involvement,
Jen
