As far as I can remember you can choose what updates you receive from different persons and you can also prioritize this by creating groups like "close friends",but as you said they can do better than this.
1,068 karma · joined August 20, 2012
+already switched to Linux and started encrypting my hard drives long ago.
The only problem I still have is Facebook.I can't leave because of the groups.
http://blog.theoldreader.com/post/45337829605/unexpected-day...
Discussion already started.Look for alternatives in the comment section.
Later edit: Like many other will most likely do in their replies I'm also going to suggest an alternative that I've tried in the past. http://theoldreader.com/
Later edit 2: They even added a nice pop-up now. https://s3.amazonaws.com/i.imm.io/Zg6A.png