I hate it when an Internet writer uses a one-line tease to send me to an article and that article is a one-line intro linking to another article that has been heavily quoted. Pfft. Just send me to the freakin article.

I certainly don't object to writers giving a good plug to the site where they came across an interesting item they wrote about, letting the reader decide whether to patronize the site or not. And I don't object to being linked to an article about an article when there is interesting commentary about the topic. It's the gratuitous linkage to your friends at my expense that offends me.

To each his own and every Internet writer can do as they please of course. But every reader that comes to a site is a customer and every customer visit or click has a value. For commercial sites this is a tangible value (if a site has any advertising, then I classify the site as commercial,) for personal sites, the value may be more intrinsic. If you understand the Internet you know this already.

I am not a big link follower anyway because I don't need to read so many clever little ways--and some not so clever ways--to say the same bullshit over and over. If writers consistently send me to a traffic ramp to nowhere then I get to where I don't follow any of their links. Following links is a matter of trust. I need to be able to trust that when I follow a link, I am not wasting my damn time. Don't send me to no bullshit.

And I promise, I wont ever send you to no bullshit.

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