I'm online all day from work anyhow, so keeping up never seems to be a problem.

However, I do have a few people who aren't on my default view, though probably not enough to make a huge difference.

I also have a couple filters for when I'm behind due to vacation or whatever, so I can just catch up on the people who I'm closest to or whatever.

I catch up every day after work. There are rarely more than 25 posts so it's not at all difficult.

Uhm, don't tell anybody, but I skim...

no, that happened to me yesterday too. And just before your post I was considering dropping someone off my friends list. It does take management. And skimming, sometimes.

*hug*

I'm also a skimmer. I liken LJ to entering a room party. I circulate listening to all the conversations, and stopping to comment on the ones that especially pique my interest...

Thanks, that's just the right analogy, I think. Imagine that the room party is being held in a large ballroom, with multiple hosts and themes and lots of comfy seating. (Hmmm, that sums up the four-way party ballroom at ConDor in San Diego in this year.)

Hey, Fred - do you have a high-resolution version of Geri's photo of you? The Fan Gallery wants it so we can add you to the exhibit in time to display it at Worldcon, don't you know. Armadillocon will have a subset of the exhibit, too...

I sometimes skim through friends' entries. Occasionally I find myself commenting days after the fact.

I check in every day, don't always read comments to posts on communities, and keep a couple of people/communities off my default view (and catch up with them when I have the time and inclination).

Skim. The trick is to skim. And to log in multiple times per day if you can.

I now can get LJ on my cellphone, which also helps.

But skim skim skim. Don't feel bad about it.

B

I read during down time at work. Lately there has been lots of it.

In my case, I read abnormally fast. I know at least one person who color-codes his friends list, with certain shades for people whose post he always wants to read, and other shades for people who he has on out of politeness; that's worth considering.

I skim, and comment only when I have something to say. If I can't log on for a few days, I'll go to friends' user-info pages and look for most recent entries from there, if I don't see them on the current Friends page.