Oh man. This sucks. I heard around the end of the year that Google was doing away with several of its pet projects, and that one program getting the axe (for all non-Blogger sites) was Google Friend Connect. That’s used by almost every YA blogger as a way to track followers, and for people to mark which blogs filter into their Google Reader.
I knew it was coming, and still I procrastinated finding a solution. Right up to (and beyond) March 1, when the lovely box with all my 285 incredible followers *poof* disappeared! Blech!
Thankfully the internets is populated with helpful, wonderful people like Emy Shin, who came up with a solution months ago that I missed somehow!
Anyway, I just wanted to post this as a heads-up in case you hadn’t heard this was happening, or were wondering why some of your favorite blogs weren’t showing up on Google Reader. If they aren’t on blogger, you need to re-follow!
Here are some non-Blogger blogs that you should think about resubscribing to, or subscribing to for the first time!
- Erin Bowman, YA writer whose debut, Taken, is coming out in winter 2013
- Katy Upperman, YA writer and March Photo Challenge-inspirer
- Phoebe North, YA writer and sci-fi master whose debut, Starglass, will be published in summer 2013
- Cristin Terrill, YA writer whose debut, All Our Yesterdays is coming out in fall 2013
- Sash & Em, two adorable, fun gals who review YA books and are generally awesome.
- That Cover Girl, a graphic designer and YA book lover Capillya blogs about the good, the bad, and the ugly in book cover design. She’s hilarious and lovely to boot!
Here are a few other ways you can follow me, if you’re interested!
- Click on the “follow via Blogger” button in my sidebar (to the right) to get to a new Google Friend Connect box. Following will get my blog back into your Google Reader feed like it was before.
- Subscribe to my blog’s RSS feed which will bring each post straight to your favorite RSS reader of choice. Some favorites include Google Reader (if you have a Gmail account, your Google Reader is usually linked at the top of your Gmail inbox, or sometimes under the link “More”), My Yahoo!, Newsgator, Bloglines, and Netvibes, just to name a few.
- Follow me on Twitter, probably my favorite of the social medias. I don’t auto-follow, but I respond to @ replies!
- I update every so often on my Tumblr as well, and contribute to the YA Highway Tumblr account
- I’m also on Pinterest and Instagram :)
Also, if you find a new way to follow me, you’ll get an extra entry into my big, awesome Moving Day Giveaway!
Sorry for the brief commercial, guys! Back to regular content now :)
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I blogged on this about a week ago. My concern with any solution that tries to keep GFC is an uncertainty with the future of GFC period. As I understand it, Google is trying to leverage GFC to promote its Google+ social network. Who’s to say it won’t eventually phase GFC out altogether in favor of Google+? I’m sure they would provide a means for you to port GFC members over to Google+ (if you’re on Blogger), but that assumes you want to maintain another Facebook.
I’ve not heard that Google are planning to do this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened. That’s why I just bit the bullet and started over with Leaky Followers.
You’re still on my RSS, Sarah. :)
You’re right Colin, I wouldn’t be surprised to see GFC go away entirely either. And they are pushing Google+ so hard in the wake of GFC! It simply doesn’t work the same way, so it’s frustrating.
And thanks for keeping me on the RSS :)
Huge thanks for the shout-out, and for the kick in the pants! I’ve been neglecting to fix my GFC/Blogger issue, and now (thanks to you and Emy!) it’s finally done. Also, I’m totally piggy-backing off your post today and doing one of my own. Thanks again, Sarah! You rock!
Okay, wait… Now I’m having trouble. I followed Emy’s instructions, but instead of getting a link to subscribe in my sidebar, I’m getting this message: “An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.”
Can you offer any insight?
Hi Katy! I just popped over to your blog to check out the feed — and I was able to follow you through the link on your sidebar. (Is your blog “amongdahlias”?) Sometimes, Blogger acts up a bit. But it seems to be working now. :)
YAY For Emy tech support! She is such a pro!
Woot! Thanks for the shout-out, Sarah! I lost tons of followers with this switch too. What a bummer. Like Colin, I’m wondering if they are going to cut GFC altogether. I’m not against change, but I will admit that it scares me only because the YA community seems to be soooo heavily blogger. Only time will tell, I suppose!
That’s exactly my worry, too, Erin—the YA blogging world relies a ton on Blogger, and its follow function. I hope enough people realize what changed and adjust their blog readers accordingly, but everyone is sure to lose a few in the mess :(
But hopefully something much better will come along!
THANK YOU. I’ve been trying to figure out a solution to this for days now without success. I’m going to go do this now!
….EXCEPT Google doesn’t seem to be handing out the code for a GFC widget anymore. This makes me suspect Colin is right, and they’re going to be phasing GFC out entirely soon. It may just be better to go ahead and start fresh with one of the alternatives, although that’s super annoying since the whole YA blogosphere uses GFC.
They totally axed the widget and everything. There are so many stinking loops they want you to jump through now! Grrr!
Thank you for the shout out, Sarah! :)
Like Colin, I have lost faith in Google, and don’t trust that it wouldn’t try to phase out GFC altogether. I had debated on using strictly RSS feeds and email subscriptions for my blog. However, because the YA community is so heavily dependent on GFC (there are many who don’t even know about RSS feeds), I’d feel out-of-the-loop without GFC.
If Google does decide to axe GFC in the future, I’m sure as a community, we’ll figure out something else. :)
I hope you’re right, Emy! I think GFC is likely to go the way of the dinosaurs. But it’ll be nice to get rid of the follower count, in my opinion. Blogs should be judged on content, not followers!
Hello there!
Thanks for the shoutout! We’re using NetworkedBlogs for a GFC replacement but it’s through Facebook, which some people don’t really like. :-\ It’s hard to get people to subscribe to the RSS feed when it takes more than just a few quick clicks! :(
Still though, we would NEVER go back to blogger after knowing the AWESOMENESS of Wordpress.
xoxo -S
YAY WORDPRESS! It’s worth losing GFC, isn’t it? :)
*blush blush* Thank you, doll!
:D No problem!!
Augh! You mentioned me! On yer blog! I am so honored! I’m also flattered that you’d think me a graphic designer, and while I hate to be a complete fraud, I’m not a designer. I’m just a producer. Lame, I know. I’m also a professional Let Downer. I hope you will still be my friend, though! (just not on Google Friend Connect, obvs)
Oh man! I did not even think about it, but I guess I never double-checked to see what your real, true day job was! However, I heretofore deem thee an honorary graphic designer because you critique it so well. Also, all the times that you’ve mentioned being on set and shooting scenes makes way more sense now :) LOL.
Hi, i want to get the “Follow via Blogger” gagdet on your sidebar, for my Wordpress blog. How can i find it?