Don't Bogart That Link!
deanesmay
Joe Gandelman notes something that many other webloggers have complained about: sending a trackback ping without a link.
Joe only makes one mistake: some webloggers don't realize that this is considered rude. Many understand it instinctively but some don't. So I periodically try to say something about it as a gentle reminder. Goodness knows there are things I've done in the past that were considered rude without my realizing it.
Still, the point stands: you send a trackback as a way of saying "Hey! I linked you!" Otherwise, all you're doing is mooching traffic. It may not be what you intended, but it's what you're doing.
Joe only makes one mistake: some webloggers don't realize that this is considered rude. Many understand it instinctively but some don't. So I periodically try to say something about it as a gentle reminder. Goodness knows there are things I've done in the past that were considered rude without my realizing it.
Still, the point stands: you send a trackback as a way of saying "Hey! I linked you!" Otherwise, all you're doing is mooching traffic. It may not be what you intended, but it's what you're doing.
Then I figured I was doing a bad thing.
Rich
That doesn't mean that the Pingback spec isn't vulnerable to leachers; it's so easy to just delete a link once the ping has been sent. It's also become conventional wisdom these days that the relation of a post to another is best shown with a link. It's just that there are still some people stuck a few years behind when it comes to TBs.
I assume if they read me they'll notice and if they don't they probably don't care anyway. I'm so small time I just kinda don't think about it.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.