From a comment by Dr. Flea in the Addicted to Medblogs Comments Section. November 15, 2006.
Thus began my education regarding “links”. Dr. Flea taught me that the people you link to have a way of finding out about your link. Gutless lurkers like me don't like that.
It has been gently suggested that I include links to the blogs that I write about. Some people want me to stop having blind items on my blog. I also received a hilarious, but filthy, now-deleted comment from someone ("Anonymous", my ass. I know who you are) telling me to start linking and stop having blind items.
After receiving some superior tutelage regarding links (who knew that little button on Blogger that said “insert link” was for linking other people’s posts?), I have no excuse for not including links on my blog.
Does that mean that I will always link to a post that I am writing about? No.
Being the gutless wonder that I am, I can’t. I won’t.
If I don’t link a post, it’s because
a. I don’t want the blogger to come to my blog, although I’m probably leaving a trail in some obvious way known to everyone but me. I’m gutless, so sue me.
b. I don’t want you to go to the blog I am referring to. There are some obscure blogs out there. I have never seen the bloggers’ names in the comment section of other blogs. There are few or no comments on their blogs. These are the juiciest blogs. I am afraid if they know I am reading, they will stop being so open. Ok, so I am gutless and selfish.
c. I find the blog “suspect”. There are a few out there that I think might be fakes. Written by someone with a medical background, but not a doctor. Yet. Or, I could just be full of crap. But in my defense, I spend a lot of time at work reading and responding to crap. I don’t analyze blogs the same way I analyze work related writings, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get that same feeling in my gut when I read a load of crap in a blog. (And Fake? General Surgeon, I hope that you stopped writing because of an increased surgical workload and not because I questioned your doctorhood.)
So, I will link to posts that I think will be of interest to someone (and whose author’s don’t scare me). And I won’t leave any more blind items.
And, please, if I write about a blog, I am not endorsing its content. What do I know? I’m just a lawyer.
Last blind item ever: You are still my favorite blogger and one of your posts last week and your post today made me an even bigger fan, if that is possible.
Update: Sometimes I don't link just because I'm lazy.
15 comments:
Hey, it's a free universe. You can obviously do whatever you want. (Apologies for not getting around to telling you about the link button on the formatting bar in blogger; I meant to.) Don't link if you don't want to.
OTOH, allow me to point out the fallacies of at least 2 of your 3 arguments:
b. Not wanting to "spoil" the juicy blogs: by definition, bloggers want to be read. Otherwise they would only post on closed sites like locked Live Journals. The far greater likelihood is that knowing there's someone appreciating them, they're going to open up even more. If you like them now, you probably haven't seen anything yet!
c. Rooting out suspect blogs: I don't know how much you know about the debacle of a fake blog known as TNT (See Moof's archives around August/September of this year) but ferreting out the fakes would be considered by many to be an extremely valuable service. Your bulldog lawyer nose (and gut) would be just as welcome here as your incisive wit.
I can't argue with (a) (keeping the great unwashed away from your blog) but the bottom line is that you really have no control over who comes sniffing around.
Dr. Dino--You're the one that told me about the link button!! I'm still having a problem with tags though. I can't seem to close them correctly.
This is an interesting discussion or sort of area of thought. I'm a new blogger but I'm certainly not new to the internet--and dealing with people and their online personas. You really do have to take everyone at "face" value, or screen value, if you will. Sometimes you do get to know someone better past their blog via email and strike up relationships and that can be fine.
I may link to other blogs if I feel they are relevant or I like them. I may or may not link to relevant articles or "silly" sites if they are again relevant to my post. I'm choosy. I guess I just don't want to fill up my posts with a bunch of links to information that anyone can google if a fact is a fact. I don't want to treat my readers like they're children. But I don't want to speak in too much jargon either. I want to make it accessible to everyone. Hey, I don't know who's reading! Also, I'm not a professional so I don't want embarrass myself either by getting too high brow!
And I always check my facts. If I don't already know the answer and/or I can't figure it out, I'll either say I don't know or I won't post about it.
You get the straight goods over at PAs place. I don't have the energy to misrepresent myself *wry grin*
And hey, there's some kind of add link/tool bar thingie? Maybe not in beta...I type in all my code manually...
I wrote this post after reading a comment that made it look like someone may have been relying on something I wrote about in a previous post. I felt uncomfortable providing the link after she requested it, at least publicly. Then I got the bright idea to write about why I don’t always link. I was really just poking fun at myself for being such a chickenshit. Some people link hoping the linkees will come to their blog. I don't link because I don't want people to see my blog. Heh. But I have to admit, Dr. Dino is right. I really am glad y'all stop by.
And that link button is great.
It's sort of an embarrassing side-effect of blogging: getting caught up in the numbers, the rankings, and feeling in some way competitive over it. I discovered technorati somewhat late, and must admit I like to find that someone has linked to me, and to read in what way. The dark side is (confessional, here) that at some level I find myself thinking about readership/numbers/links/and the whole ball of wax when I'm writing, and I think that's an impurity of sorts. Frequently I remind myself that since I knew nothing of that stuff when I started blogging, I should keep it far up the rear of my mind even now. One gets a sense that blogging does similar things to the minds of all bloggers. Maybe we're being sucked in deliberately by some archly evil power with plans eventually to control us all. Or maybe we're all a bunch o'idiots. Or human.
Actually folks that you blog about can still find your blog even without a link by using copyscape to find quoted text. Also, don't forget google. If you really don't want people to find your blog, it shouldn't be searchable on Blogger. BTW, I have you in my bloglines . . . ;o). I like your blog; I hope you keep writing.
I'll have to thank Dr. D for linking to you!
And ditto to what Dr. D said about fakes . . .
I don’t think I will have to worry about that particular side effect of blogging. Unless the bloggers in the bottom 1,000,000 want to get a little competition going. Bring it on.
But since we are confessing, ever since I was added to the Kevin.md feeds, I have to fight the urge to give my posts a provocative title, just to get a few hits from the curious. I am being pulled into the dark side!
Ok, DP, now you’re scaring me. And thanks about the bloglines thing. Only, I’m not sure what that means. Same with the Technorati thing. I really do need to spend some more time learning the ropes.
Sid makes some good points although I am not competitive at all. I'm just addicted/have an addictive personality so I get a bit "clicky clicky" when it comes to my blog and checking to see if people read it and what my teeny weeny stats are.
And I think I need positive reinforcement and attention. No, really. It stems from abandonment and trauma. I'm not an "attention seeker"...I just have a need to be validated, I guess? And I also hope that I might actually be able to help people out there and I have received feedback from people who are like, "Whoa! You speak so honestly..." That's kind of cool so if anyone out there who's got other psych/neuro stuff going on can relate, then that's awesome. Bring it all out of the closet, baby!
But really, my whole blog was kind of a weird joke/dare kind of thing and frankly, I'm surprised anyone's reading it at all. HA!
It's your world too, MA. And we all started somewhere. None of us were born knowing about Technorati and tags.
You can effectively use TinyURL to cover up your tracks:
http://tinyurl.com
The service creates its own url, for you to send readers to, only to be forwarded to medblog of your choice.
Example:
http://tinyurl.com/vmvqm
Come visit, I'd like a lawyer-opinion. The Secretary who couldn't stop Talking. www.psychiatrist-blog.blogspot.com
You're not half bad...for an attorney, ya know?
Look forward to reading more!
MA,
Fight back. Put a web counter on your site (they're free! sweet!) so you can track everyone who visits your blog. These webcounters have many unique features that will allow you to see where your readers came from and how they got to your page whether by another link, websearch, etc...
One of my favorite site is www.wholinkstome.com. Just type in your blog url and voila, your "daily dose of narcissism!"
Fingersandtubesineveryorifice
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