Future reading

Twitter, Twitbin and Instapaper 2.0 are changing how I consume the written word online.

Twitter, of course, is the online social networking service that lets users shoot random thoughts, news updates and links into the ether at 140 characters a pop. What started out as a way for friends to keep up to date on each other’s comings and goings has transformed into a service for people to track news stories and world events, a fact underscored by this recent change to the Twitter homepage.

This is significant because soon after I joined Twitter, I began to follow a whole host of cool “tweeps,” including academics (@dancohen, @jayrosen_nyu), actors and authors (@neilhimself, @hodgman), bloggers (@jfruh), reporters (@jackshafer), White House correspondents (@jaketapper), and media cognoscenti (@scroll, @bobosphere). In many cases, the sole connection between these folks being a passion for sharing information they encounter online, or, in the case of the media professionals, create themselves. Those on the front lines of the news also clue me on major stories before most media outlets can even pull together a one-line wire report.

This is a vast improvment over Google Reader, a service that I used previously to track of all my favorite magazines, news sites and blogs. My feed used to rocket past 1000+ articles in a matter of hours, plus I needed to click on each item to get more than just a rough headline, as there remained a lot of wheat to separate from the chaff. When I installed Twitbin, a plug-in for the Firefox web browser that’s available for Windows, Mac and Linux versions of the software, however, I suddently found a constant stream of links scolling by the left-hand side of my browser, a list that miraculously failed to pile up and create an overwheling mass of unread guilt. Also, since my “tweeps” are hand-picked by me based on our apparent shared interests, they’re much more likely to post links that I actually want to read.

These two development were were great, but still not quite enough to create a significant shift in my online readings habits. The key variable in this three-part equation came with the addition of Instapaper Pro 2.0, an application for the iPhone that allows you to save articles that you encounter online to your mobile device for offline reading. You simply install a small addon to your web browser that creates a “Read Later” button at the top of the page. If you come across a story that want to read online, click the button and — voila! — your mobile device downloads the article to your screen the next time to tap the app! In Firefix for Unbuntu Linux, you don’t even need to pop open a new window to save the page, it all happens right in your main browser window.

Essentially, this overcomes the two greatest problems with reading content online:

1. It’s not all that pleasant to read at your desk or hunched over a laptop screen, especially compared to the screen on the iPhone or iTouch, which is small, portable and able to be held in the palm of your hand.

2. There generally isn’t enough time to properly digest an 8,000 word ode to unconvensional thinking by Malcolm Gladwell while you’re also working on other things.

Now a typical virtual day goes thusly: Go online, pop open Twitbin and get to work. As the day goes on, I generally glance at my Twitter feed on a fairly regular basis. When someone posts something eye-catching, I click the link. If it’s short, I might read it right then. Maybe even retweet it with some personal observation. If it’s long, or I’m too busy, I click “Read Later” and close the window. Then, in the evening, rather than grab a magazine, I grab my iTouch and pop open Instapaper, and everything that caught my eye that day scrolls in front of my eyes again in plain text format, minus ads and distracting graphics. If one of these article contains links to some cool related content, I can select “Read Later” for those as well, right inside the app. (One of the best features in the new 2.0 version.) I don’t even need to be online to do this, the app will save the links for later download. Never again will you reach the middle of an article, click a related link and fail to return.

This process might sound complex, and it might not fit so easily into some people’s routines, but for me it words quite well. It’s much less obtrustive, time-wasting or distracting than constantly stopping to read articles in the midddle of a busy workday, and you ultimately read more (and more to the end) when you outsource your web reading to a more comfortable format, and to a quieter, more reflective part of your day.

Twitter
Twitbin
Instapaper 2.0

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