GFC IS NOT DISAPPEARING!!! (yet?) READ THIS!

There has been a lot of panic on Twitter (nothing new…) about Google Friend Finder disappearing. Let me start by saying GFC is NOT disappearing (yet)!!!!!!!!!!

Unlike other bloggers who scream and shout “what they heard”, I actually went to investigate it. That’s how it works, people. If you want to know something you either ask or you investigate. You don’t draw your own conclusions.

On Google’s blog there’s a list of things that are going to change. It says that the Google READER is retiring. Reader, not Friend Connect. You can read the paragraph here:

We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.

Read the full post here

CONTINUE READING! There's a whole post + explanation!

But then there are people who still can’t read and say: “But it says GFC is going!!!” No, it doesn’t.

To confirm that, I went to the Google/Blogger forum and asked the question. I made screenshots so you can see on what information I base my conclusion. Because it’s in Dutch, I will translate it for you. I asked in English too, but the Dutch question got answered quicker. Here’s the forum page with my questions (it’s Dutch, though, but you can translate if you have your doubts) https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger-nl/algemeen/wZcO7YycjX8

Translation

Me

Hi,

There’s a rumor in the blogger world that the Google Friend Connect widget will disappear soon (July 1^st). Is this true?

If so, is it going to be replaced by an alternative? And will I lose all my followers?

Help me out! I don’t know what to believe anymore..

Kobus

The Google Friend Connect will still exist for now. In the following blogpost you can read what’s going to disappear.

http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2013/03/a-second-spring-of-cleaning.html

Me

Thank you for the quick reaction!!!

I’ve just seen that, indeed. But isn’t google reader connected to google friend connect?

--

You see? It stays, for now. For now. Which means it’s not staying forever, but it stays for now, so no worries. Just like everyone else, I had more questions which Kobus answered kindly. To clarify things: Kobus is the guy that answers the questions on the Dutch Blogger forum. So no random person who decided to answer me. He knows what he’s talking about. Let’s continue the conversation.

Translation

Me

Thank you for the quick reaction!!!

I’ve just seen that, indeed. But isn’t google reader connected to google friend connect?

Kobus

These have nothing to do with each other.

Google Reader is a possibility to read the RSS-Feeds, but it works/worked fine without GFC

Me
Again, thank you for the answer!

One more question and I’ll stop haha :)

If Blogger won’t use Google Reader anymore, how can you still follow the blogs you follow? Because I read about the new blog posts via the list Google Reader provides.

Me
Again, thank you for the answer!

One more question and I’ll stop haha :)

If Blogger won’t use Google Reader anymore, how can you still follow the blogs you follow? Because I read about the new blog posts via the list Google Reader provides.

Kobus
There are more Feed reader that you can use to follow/read RSS feeds. Google Reader is just one of many

--

And because of all the hassle I totally forgot this: Google Reader is NOT the same as your dashboard! Just a little logical thinking (that got delayed though lol)

--

As you can see, the information is reliable and I didn’t make anything up to make anyone feel better.

So please people, if you hear something that might affect you, investigate!!!!!! Don’t follow the crowd, be the leader!

Your options

If you’re still worried about GFC disappearing, I don’t blame you. The guy said “for now”, which means that it’s not staying forever. However, it’s not disappearing on 1 July. So if you’re worried, stimulate your new and existing followers to follow you through other media, like Bloglovin, Twitter, Facebook and what else.

Personally I like to use Bloglovin and I’ll just briefly write down the pros

• Easy to use
• Easy to follow and be followed
• Daily mail with new posts (you can change this if you want to)
• Option to organize blogs (different folders; I have my Beauty Folder, Fashion Folder, Lifestyle Folder, Photography, etc.)
• Option to like posts, so you’ll never lose your favourite posts
• You can see how many (un)followers you got in a period of time (in a graph)
• Easy to use on mobile phone
• It also has an app!! And it works fine!
• Tells you which posts you haven’t read yet
• Gives you the option to search for blogs that you might like (but doesn’t spam you like Twitter does with “People you might know, Follow now!!!” You can search on Bloglovin yourself)

I’m not promoting Bloglovin, don’t get me wrong. I just wrote down why I like it so much. I think I use it more than GFC. If you want to follow me there, please do! Bloglovin.com/PetiteSal

* Edit thanks for my lovely reader & commenter Lizzums: If you don't want to lose the blogs you follow (via Google Reader), you can import them into your Bloglovin feed! Rrrrright here: Bloglovin.com/import *

Conclusion

I’m not sure when the GFC widget is disappearing, but I do know it’s not on July 1^st like Google Reader. So you have at least 4 months of GFC pleasure! With this post I wanted to inform you all what the status is at the moment. If you still have questions, please ask them on the forum, or Tweet them to me and I’ll ask them for you. You can also drop them in a comment. On March 18^th I will gather all the questions in the blogpost and ask them in the forum. That way I don’t have to ask a question every other second and I won’t drive the forum guy insane :)

Conclusion of this very informative post: DON’T FOLLOW THE CROWD WHEN THERE’S PANIC!! Oh and GFC is not disappearing. Yet.

I’m sorry for the annoyed tone in this post. It’s just that people drive me insane with so called facts about this, while no one took the effort to actually figure things out.

Here is a link to the forum https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/blogger

Here is a link to the Dutch forum (which I used) https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/blogger-nl

Don't get me wrong though, I'm as insecure as all of you. Please follow me on other social media to stay in touch with me and let me know you did, so I can immediately follow back! (You can click on the icons)

   

Thank you for reading and I hope I clarified things a little. 

Again, if you have any questions, post them below or tweet them to me and I’ll ask all of them in the forum next week! Or you can ask the questions yourself, of course :)