The Internet made it possible for people to access large amounts of content that was previously unreachable for them. This spurred hordes of people to create and publish their own content. Then came social networks that made it possible for users to connect and interact with people that they could previously not interact with (not very easily at least).

These have been revolutionary improvements because they brought with them the promise of much greater opportunities, and much greater choice. If you look at the sheer number of (r)e-tailers today, you will realize the choice the consumer has.

But the progress in these areas seems to be towards curtailing choice and allowing algorithms to narrow down and present a shorter list to the users. While Facebook uses algorithms to filter down and decide what posts to show in the user's timeline, it still allows the user to customize her newsfeed by selecting whose posts she wishes to see.

Google is a couple of days away from killing that option entirely. With Google Reader, one could decide what feeds to subscribe to. But no longer. Once it is gone, Google wants you to read only those things that are thrown up by its algorithms on Google+ and News. If not, you will have to make the effort in going to each and every website that you feel might interest you. Or you can create an account on another RSS reader like Feedly or The Old Reader and continue to keep your choice alive.

Import your reader list before it is gone for ever. Take control of what you read.