Make Me Think About Links and Linking

Links are not only great, but necessary to understand and use when navigating the web. In fact, the very reason it is called the “world wide web” is because its creator wanted to bring attention to the fact that as the world is connected through the web, a user can go from one point to another point directly — that is, in a global hypertext system, anything can connect to anything else. Links are more than just hypertext leading from one page to another: Links connect people to information, and to each other.

At first, hypertext seems like a great way to navigate from Point A to Point B very quickly. However, linking is actually really complicated. To keep things simple, I willr efer to all users of hypertext as “Bob”.

Links are confusing.

When Bob sees a link, he will do one of two things. One, he will decide to click the link and follow wherever it leads. This could take him anywhere online. He doesn’t know where, or why. Bob isn’t told whether he followed the correct link, or whether he was supposed to click any link at all. This leaves Bob confused, frustrated, lost, and missing out on the information he was trying to find.

His other option upon encountering hypertext is to ignore it, which is addressed in my next point.

Links are distracting.

Webpages include links to advertisements, articles, or other websites. This is distracting, because instead of paying attention to the content, Bob is now being distracted by the flashing ad, or he is clicking a link to an article with a more intriguing title. These will lead Bob so far from the original webpage that he will forget where he started, or run out of time and never return to the original content.

But what about when links are less flashy, and are simply hypertext amid standard text?

When links are added into the content itself — sporadically added into paragraphs, or even as footnotes, they can be even more distracting. Price says that links draw attention, and for this reason advises against putting links in the middle of a sentence. Instead, Price suggests placing them at the beginning if the paragraph explains or discusses the link. Otherwise, place links at the end of a paragraph. But, no matter where a link is located, it will always distract from the content.

Even if a link isn’t clicked on, Bob will still notice that it is there, and, even if just for a moment, that link has created a distraction, because a decision has had to be made as to whether that link should or should not be followed.

Links are inconvenient.

Because links are confusing and distracting, they are inconvenient. Some may argue that opening links in a new tab is a way to ensure that the original page remains a a focal point, is remembered, or is kept open to return to. However, not all people do this. Also, internet is now accessible through numerous handheld devices and even gaming consoles, which don’t usually allow a user to open links in a new tab.

Links are not consistent.

Each webpage uses its own set of codes addressing how links are presented. Sometimes links are underlined, sometimes they are in a different font or text color, sometimes they include pop-ups. It’s not consistent across the web, and Bob finds this confusing. Or, the hypertext may appear so differently in comparison to the standard text that it becomes a distraction.

Price advises to keep links consistent, stating that when writing a certain type of article, always use the same type of link. Unfortunately, this only works across a website, not across the entire internet.

Links are not honest.

Just because Page A links to Page B does not mean that the pages are in any way related. However, because they have been linked, Bob assumes that the pages are related, and that one page is relevant to the other, or even that they are necessary to each other.

Another issue in regards to the integrity of hypertext is link baiting, in which the creator of some content tries to gain traffic to said content, and chooses to do so by giving the content a title that will get the attention of others to encourage more clicks. But, this is merely a trick.

Links easily become outdated.

The web is constantly gaining new users, which means that the web is constantly changing, and users have the run of the place. Information is being added or changed every moment, and not all of that information is accurate. The web also has many users who use the web very infrequently or, for whatever reason, no longer use the web. These factors can lead to link rot, a fatal disease which luckily only infects hypertext, but unfortunately affects every internet user.

Because the web is so widely used and constantly changing, and also because some links can only be found down rabbit holes, there is really no way to ensure that links are up-to-date.

I have a real life example of bad absolute links — also known as Uniform Resource Locators, or URLs. Recently, I began editing my Bookmarked webpages saved on my internet browser. I would estimate that 5 percent or so of these webpages no longer existed. I update my bookmarks somewhat frequently — a few times per year — and this happens each time. Maybe that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but consider this: Over the course of a year, about 15 percent of the links I have saved end up either being removed, or being moved and the mover does not put a redirect in place. That is a lot of link rot already, and that is only counting the links that have been saved — not visited — by one person over the course of one year. I’m not sure I even want to consider how many more pages I have visited that no longer exist, how many web pages stop existing over the course of all the years of the internet, or take into account every person who has ever accessed the internet and how many pages they have visited that are now bad links.

This is not just about link rot. This is about the internet serving as an extension of ourselves, but only when we choose to act on it. Ultimately, it’s not the information online that is changing, it is the users who are changing, and eventually those users will stop updating links. This link rot and outdated information exists everywhere online — in every abandoned blog, every forgotten wiki, and every former profile on a social networking site.

Linking is based on faulty logic.

To summarize, linking is done based on the assumption that a user always know the purpose of links, and the user always assumes that the linker knows what he/she is doing, that the linker is being honest, the linked-to content is accurate, and that all of the information provided is up-to-date. That’s a lot of virtual responsibility for a linker, and none are completely able to handle that responsibility. Links are updated or ignored at the linker’s discretion, and therefore cannot always be trusted, because linkers are humans capable of error, capable of lies, and with lives full of responsibilities that are far more pressing than updating hypertext.

The Solution?

Hypertext itself is useful, but those who use it might not be. So, when navigating the web, these problems with hypertext should be kept in mind to avoid confusion and complications.