Linking Etiquette/Ethics for Blogs: The Last Word
June 16th, 2008
Are you a Stinker Linker?
Be honest now. The reason I ask is because links are the lifeblood of the blogosphere. They nourish us and keep us connected to one another. They give us a purpose for blogging and are the very stuff that we need to thrive on.
Imagine for a moment an internet without hyperlinks.We would only be disjointed bits of electrons floating in the ethosphere with no way to find one another.
Google would not exist because it would serve no purpose without links. Neither would Technorati, because without links how would it be able to keep us non a-listers in our place? 
What a blogosphere indeed!
Today I’m going to discuss the need for a definitive linking etiquette or code of conduct and why I believe the blogosphere is heading down the wrong path.
I see basically five schools of thought out there about linking:
1. SEO types who tell us how we should link to improve our traffic and pagerank.
2. Blogpreneurs who tell us to link only to blogs that can help us to get ahead or to partner with.
3. A-listers who rarely link out of their little cliques so as not to dilute their pagerank and keep their influence, much like the so-called royal families of old who married their cousins to keep their wealth and power within the family.
4. Huggy Bears: Then there are those who see linking as a form of reward. A virtual hug so-to-speak reaching out with a gift to a friend or a random act of kindness.
5. Ethical Bloggers who adhere to a code not unlike the rules for listing sources in a bibliography when writing a book or a college paper. Ethical bloggers do their best to link to sources without exception that have inspired us to write, or from those who we have gleaned information to write our posts.
Let’s look at the SEO type first. These bloggers spend their time analyzing search engine algorithms and give us tips on how we can better optimize our blogs and the best linking strategy to improve our traffic and pagerank.
SEO types can be further divided into Black Hat (the bad guys of course) or White Hat (the good guys). Although the White Hat types are not bad on the face of it, and neither is it bad to (legitimately) optimize your blog, the problem is it still only represents one part of the linking equation.
Blogpreneurs (or splogpreneurs) on the other hand who promote linking only under certain conditions and have an ulterior motive for blogging. Their only reason for blogging is to make money by exploiting the blogosphere. They are not in it for the joy of blogging like the vast majority of bloggers out there.
They will go to great lengths to create their own blogarchy (or network as some like to call it) to acquire enough traffic and authority so as to be considered experts in a niche to sell you their courses, products, speaking engagements or to click on their ads.
They are masters at creating titles (linkbaiting) that give us the impression they are there to help us, but in reality they are self-serving and padding their posts with keywords that they know will draw traffic like flies on doo-doo (i.e. keywords like make money, success, tips, etc.)
Albeit there is nothing wrong with making money per se, they go too far when they tell us to only link under certain conditions (i.e. within their network of partners) under the guise of impressive buzzwords like “similar values” or “branding”.
They use it as an excuse to shut out their competitors or those who have dared to criticize them or refuse to play the game according to their rules. They rarely if ever will link to their competitors and their so-called linking strategies are completely self-serving.
A-listers? Well what hasn’t already been said about them. We all know they are a bunch of self-serving egoists, and it’s all about us groveling at their beckoned feet. They wield their links sparingly like a king’s scepter, doling it out at their pleasure to the dogs begging for a bone at the dinner table.
Huggy Bears: Those of us who link mainly to our friends or who we want to become our friends. There’s nothing wrong with that from what I can see but it is still a narrow view of the blogosphere.
The Final Word:
The problem that I see with numbers #1 through #3 of the above is that they create splintered factions within the blogosphere for their own self-serving reasons. Neither do they care much for ethics when it comes to linking or plagiarizing content.
That is the reason why I created the Blokester Network. To give a voice to neglected bloggers who can’t seem to break out the box that the #1 through #3 crowd have put them in.
So where does the Bloke stand on the list? I subscribe to a combination of numbers #1, #4 and #5 on the list.
I believe in optimizing my blog but I do not only link to those who can improve my pagerank or influence within the blogosphere.
I believe in linking to a blogger if they have written a great post or have a passion for blogging regardless if their blog in general meets my approval.
Most importantly, I believe in linking to sources that have inspired me to write or if I have used their information regardless if I have quoted their exact words, whether I like them or not, agree with the general content of their blog, if they can improve my pagerank, or whatever. Anything less than that is plagiarizing and bad blog etiquette - plain and simple.
Or like I’ve already said (paraphrased) in a previous post …
Is it appropriate to justify NOT linking to another blog under certain circumstances? For example, certain crowds in the blogosphere will use me as a source for their information but they will not link to me because they’re pissed off that I’ve criticized them. That is just plain and simply WRONG.
Trying to justify criteria for not linking like the author has suggested is just another excuse to create elitist blogarchies that shut out the rest of the blogosphere for their own personal gain, and I’m not falling for it.
Neither should we only just link to those who are within our little clique, who always agree with us, or we happen to like, or can help our pagerank, or to climb up the social/corporate ladder.
We should not discriminate based on pedigree, pettiness or egos. The blogosphere is supposed to be a “conversation” and like it or not we are all interrelated one way or another…
Instead of building walls around our blogs why don’t we build bridges instead?
So what kind of a linker are you? Do you link with no strings attached or are you a Stinker Linker? Are you a bridge builder or a brick layer? Do you think we need a Linking Code of Ethics, and what do you think it should be?
More reading: What does Original Content and Plagiarism mean for Bloggers?
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As I don’t have advertising on my site, nor do I care where I rank in the blogoshpere, I guess I’d be closer to a Huggy Bear. That said I tend to link to illustrate a point and save typing rather than send people to another blogger.
What does bother me though, is excess linking, where rather than constructing a well written, informative post, the author simply includes tons of links.
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One of the best posts I’ve read, keep up the good work !
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This is a thoughtful piece. I think I’ll link to it
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That’s the spirit Elaine!
Thank you so much for the kind words Protesto.
Willowtree: we call them list makers or link farms. There’s lots of those around.
Thanks for the comments everyone.
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Well you already know my thoughts on whether or not a blog gets added to my blogroll. But linking within a post? First of all it depends on how lazy or motivated I am. Then it depends on what I am writing. If I’m referring directly to something in particular that I read, then it gets linked. Also, I’ll link to certain things to illustrate a point or just give my readers a visual. And these links, some of them at least, can be found in my Things Mentioned blogroll.
To sum it up: Blogging, for me, is all about having fun.
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Good points Kirsten, especially “if I’m referring directly to something in particular that I read”. And that doesn’t mean just quoting someone either.
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Yes, I would like to exchange link with you. I’m AceOne118 from Malaysia. My blog is http://aceone118.blogspot.com/
I’ll link you back within 12 hours!
Have a nice day.
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Oh, you know me-Ms. Huggy Bear is my name. Linking is my game to fame. Oh shame! Seriously, I haven’t spent any time even looking at my links for a million moons, and now you’ve given me another job to do! Grump! I think I’ll do some weeding.
BTW….excellent post, and to your question: who would be the arbiter or judge of the ethics? I don’t know if I’d trust them.
Kuanyin’s last blog post..The Three L’s Every Blog Should Have
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You can hug me any time Kuanyin
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Blog Bloke reply on June 16th, 2008 6:08 pm:
It is a great thing to ponder about linking ethics. And I believe that is the keyword here, ‘ethics’. The way linking should be done is by applying a code of ethics into it and approach the matter in a responsible way. I mean, it’s not wrong to be a huggy bear, but if you’re planning to be a serious blogger, then these are matter that should catch your attention.
Anyway, where do I fit? Definitely #4 and #5 (or at least I try to fit into #5). I’m not a #1er simply because I’m really new into this world and cannot tell the difference between SEO and squirrel chasing after it’s own tail.
Anyhow, great great content Blog Bloke. I would love for you to drop by and read some of my stuff, but it’s all in spanish so you may not understand it. If you do… enjoy!!!
Satrian’s last blog post..Not Buenos Aires II
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I wish I could Satrian but unfortunately I can’t speak a word of Spanglish. Heck, I’m finding it tough enough to verbalize the King’s English.
I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading even more.
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I did thought about blogging in both languages, but I wouldn’t know how to structure that and ‘design’ the blog itself. I’m pretty much learning as I blog so… maybe in a short time I can get you to understand my blog.
Anyway, it is a great idea to do it in English and reach a brother audience. Even more thinking that i blog about the life in Buenos Aires and try to reflect it’s day to day reality. I would love to be able to take my city into every corner of the globe.
Thanks for dropping by!
Satrian’s last blog post..Not Buenos Aires II
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Take a look at this Satrian: http://www.blogbloke.com/the-easy-way-to-add-translation-links-international-flag-icons-to-your-blog/
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Blog Bloke reply on June 17th, 2008 12:04 am:
Satrian reply on June 16th, 2008 6:53 pm:
Blog Bloke reply on June 16th, 2008 5:13 pm:
Interesting indeed BB. A thinker post for sure.
Aside from keeping 5 & 1 consistently on the top of the list and in that order. I’m not sure there is another kind for me.
2’s - I listen, process it, and work the useful parts into #1
3’s - really crack me up. It’s exactly the same as “guru’s” and their product launches…you know the ones…with the 17 pages of totally useless, completely time-wasting “testimonials”.
The same names and faces on every single product, and you KNOW 9 outa 10 (being very nice), have not read a single page of the ebook or installed the software; yet it is the “best product of the year” or decade even.
4’s - This gets rounded up into #5 - having only business blogs so far, “random acts of kindness”, dont really “fit”, know what I mean?
Excellent post pal-o-mine. And BTW, “the final word” is a seriously cool bit of link-bait
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..7 Turbo Writing Tips
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So, if anyone looks for link netiquettes look no farther than our Blog Bloke. Google crawls all his links because that’s not “nofollowed” and this sweet little plugin called CommentLuv finds your latest post. Plus, top commenters get featured in the Blog Bloke sidebar. That’s how all blogs should be.
I for one have woken up to the reality and have taken pointers on my site. As my first step, I have removed all no follow tags from my comments.
Mushfiqur Rahman’s last blog post..Xbox 720 : Every Myth, Speculation, Rumor And The Truth That You Should Know
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Awesome! I just wish I had something useful to say about gaming
I haven’t kept up much since my Atari 2600…..oh dear, does just saying that mean I’ll need a walker soon?
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..12 Ways To Outsell Your Competition
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Well, you had the privilege of playing on the Atari 2600. As for me, I never saw an Atari console in my life!
Mushfiqur Rahman’s last blog post..Introducing The All New Yahoo Home Page
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Mushfiqur Rahman reply on June 24th, 2008 10:21 pm:
Dennis Edell reply on June 24th, 2008 5:50 pm:
Interesting post Blog Bloke! I am not sure where I come down on it, I have to read it again and ruminate about it.
Kathy@brazoscowgirl’s last blog post..Reply to this comment: The author will be notified.]
My comment is a bit late, just catching up on my email subscription reading! One reason I don’t have a blogroll is that there are so many good blogs to choose from! I’m basically an ethical linker at this point. I do talk about specific blogs or bloggers in my posts. Some times I’m not sure if I need a link just to show a snall snippet of a blog as an example in a design tutorial — I give the blog name but the actual link may not be relevant to my content from a search engine point of view.
SBAs last blog post…Template Makeover - Procedure 1 with Design Plan
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Hi there. If you are going to quote a snippet I recommend providing a link to the blog.
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Blog Bloke reply on July 12th, 2008 4:41 pm:
I guess I fall into “ethical blogger” - I only post links which are relevant to what I am blogging and which I think help other bloggers.
The only time I do not post a link in my blog is when I am about to ask the link-owner (another blogger) if it’s ok to post their blog link to mine (Twitter) and THAT message gets blocked.
kellys last blog post…One Human Trait often Overlooked as a “Online Success Ingredient” (Part 2)
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