5 blogs I follow and you should, too

I’m an avid user of Feedly, and I subscribe to a ridiculous number of blogs and websites.  However, if I had to narrow those down to the bare essentials, these are the five I couldn’t live without.

1. Mashable.  Honestly, if I could only pick one, this would have to be it. By far, it’s the most prolific of the bunch, and the topics it reports on range from technology and real-world news to social media and social issues. Their slogan is “”Mashable is the leading media company for the Connected Generation and the voice of digital culture.”  Here are some recent titles:
   • Sea levels in Northeast jumped 5 inches in just 2 years, study finds
   • Before the FCC votes on net neutrality, there’s a video you need to watch
   • How social proof can help your website
   • How to recover deleted photos in iOS 8
2. Boing Boing.  This is my MVP in the “Esoteric” category.  One of the editors is author Cory Doctorow, and this blog covers a lot of news you won’t see anywhere else. From Wikipedia: “Boing Boing is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney and left-wing politics, and it twice won the Bloggies for Weblog of the Year, in 2004 and 2005.”  This is the blog I read when I want a better handle on what’s really going on in the world.  Some samples:
   • Think you have the right to demand police identify themselves? Look closer
   • Billboards tell the stories of professionals who can’t afford London anymore
   • The time a hacker remotely bricked cars in Texas
   • Reddit isn’t the future of creativity, but it is a vital part of it
3. The Verge.  This site is probably the newest of the bunch, but it’s done an awfullotinit’s short existence (it’s only been around since 2011), including winningsomeWebby awards.  The Verge focuses primarily on technology news, with a smattering of some other topics. While I do subscribe to a host of other technology sites and blogs, none of them havequite the variety or off-the-beaten-track postings that The Verge does. A few posts from yesterday:
   • This is the Vulcan, Aston Martin’s craziest car ever
   • As messaging apps proliferate, one service aims to unite them all
   • Following White House crash, the Secret Service will begin flying its own drones
   • Microsoft kills off Google and Facebook chat for Outlook.com
4. ReadWrite. Formally ReadWriteWeb or RWW,  Another technology/web blog, where quality definitely rules overquantity. It also focuses more heavily on web and personal technology and little on networks and hardware.  This site may not produce nearly the number of posts that, say,Mashable does, but what it does produce is usually well-worth a read.  Some articles you may find interesting:
   • Why Stack Exchange Doesn’t Corral Workers Into An Office
   • Meet The New Pebble Time—Though Getting One Will Take … Time
   • Apple’s Emoji Characters Will Soon Look More Like The World
   • How MyFitnessPal Became The King Of Diet Trackers
5. io9.  This is really one of my guilty pleasure blogs, but I’m betting mostofMeanLaura’s audience would appreciate what it offers.  It’s geeky stuff, useful stuff, esoteric stuff…just go subscribe already.  Examples:
   • Dwayne Johnson Says Shazam Could Be Coming Sooner Than We Realized
   • This Dress Printed With The First Chapter of Harry Potter Is Pure Genius
   • These Basic Skills Are On The Verge Of Extinction
   • Kids Get Dropped Off At This Webcomic’s Camp—And Never Go Home Again

Post your can’t-live-without-em blogs in the comments.