The Elegant Variation: LINKING ET ALIA

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February 24, 2004

LINKING ET ALIA

It's clearly de rigeur to weigh in on the linking controversy, so as far as my worldview goes, I'd say that for me, it is important to acknowledge a source if it's a piece I would have been unlikely to find on my own. Everyone has their own rules and that's the way I operate. It's my way of demonstrating respect for the efforts of those who have collected this information. But I certainly can accept that folks who don't always link do so more out of carelessness than any ill intent.

But there's one dimension missing from this discussion that occured to me today in the course of some of my offline discussions about this issue that I think merits attention and hasn't been touched on yet:

Terry is, primarily, a journalist by trade, and journalists are trained from day one to attribute, attribute, attribute. My background is also in journalism, so I have the same impulses and I try to be as scrupulous as possible about attributing. It feels vaguely dishonest to me to pass something off as my own (which I do believe is an impression someone who doesn't visit a wide range of sites might easily come away with). But that's my training, my "programming" if you will, and I realize not everyone will share that. That others may feel that it's a free-for-all out there and everything is fair game may simply be a function of the openness of the internet, or it may be a generational thing.

This is an important point, I suspect, because there is a real "Information is Free" culture out there, whose roots are entwined with the earliest days of the Internet, and perhaps at least part of what we're seeing is a clash of these competing ideals. I don't think it's particularly conscious but I expect it was inevitable.

What I do know is that I appreciate the traffic boosts I get from other well-traveled sites and I try to return the favor as often as I can. And I do think that ultimately everyone in this soi-disant "clique" of bloggers wants the same thing - to widen the circle of discussion of literary matters. I've had terrific worthwhile correspondences with a number of bloggers out there that I never would have had otherwise. To keep widening the circle of people who care about books is no mean feat.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it ...

Posted at 12:32 AM | Permalink

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A tempest in a teapot. Whether it is worthy of a knuckle-rapping Ms. Grundy response or not isn't the point. Terry is right about the most salient point-- it is better for EVERYONE if links are attributed, not in order to provide credit, but keep the blog ecology rich. Note that this has nothing to do with the inbred, navel-gazing, name-dropping, cliquish aspect of the "blogosphere" that the beloved Bookslut moans about.

Posted by: Chris | February 24, 2004 at 09:50 AM

I generally agree with your main point despite its intemperate wording. And I'd even go so far as to admit that the "tempest in a teapot" construction crossed my mind. But I still do think the question of information availability online is a valid one.

Also - in the name of giving credit (!) - I see this morning that Chicha raised the journalist point last night. Great minds, and all that ...

Posted by: TEV | February 24, 2004 at 11:46 AM

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The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

February 24, 2004

LINKING ET ALIA

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MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog. A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog "Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

February 24, 2004

LINKING ET ALIA

TrackBack

Comments

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

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MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE: Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism