The Currency of Linking

When I was a child, my best friend, Craig, and I would look at leaves and wonder why they couldn’t be money. We would pretend that they were and think of all of the wonderful things we might buy for our families — if we could just use the leaves on the ground from the fall trees to finance our purchases. Then at some point one of us would realize that everyone else would have access to just as many leaves as we did. Our dream would crumble like leaves under our feet.

Internet Currency

Links are the currency of the Internet. At first they look a lot like those leaves that Craig and I dreamed with, but they’re not, especially in one important way. Leaves would only transfer from one person to another. Links connect blogs and websites together. They are what make the web, an interconnected web=like structure. When I link to your blog I am saying something about you and about me. I am saying to my readers that

• that I read your blog.
• your blog is worth checking out.
• that I think enough of what you have to say that I’m willing to point readers in your direction.

At least, that’s what links should be saying.

Unfortantely sometimes they say other things. They say

• I want your attention so I’m linking to you in hopes that you’ll read my blog.
• I’m linking to you in hopes you’ll link back and I can have more link power.
• I’m not going to give out links because my links are too valuable to share on those who can’t give me more power.

These reasons are unfortunate. They center on the blogger, not readers.

Whenever blogging becomes about the blogger or the blogger’s company, readers can feel the promise of conversation between human beings is breached. Readers don’t have time for bloggers who don’t think about them.

More on linking tomorrow.

Liz Strauss