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Discussion Post: When do you link to other blogs/accounts?

This is kind of random, but a question just popped into my head:

When do you link to other blogs/accounts on social media?

We are probably all blogging so that we can take part in a community. Same goes for when you post about books on Instagram/Twitter/other Social Networking Sites.

For me, I get lots of book recommendations from other book bloggers and book Instagrammers (and tea recommendations too!), so I try to link back to their reviews/post when I write my own. It is a bit hard to keep track sometimes, but I try my best.

I’m wondering, though, if that is the best way to contribute to the discussion on social media? Obviously, I do try to comment if my interest is piqued, but I can’t really discuss a book that I’ve not read yet.

Does anyone link back to give people credit for inspiring their posts or discuss them in a more structured manner? Or do you prefer if people link to your posts in a monthly roundup? I haven’t ever done roundup posts but I do enjoy reading others so I’m curious to know what you think!

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19 thoughts on “Discussion Post: When do you link to other blogs/accounts?

  1. It seems to me that people used to link back to other people all the time when I first started blogging, but that no longer seems the case. I think part of it was that people would say it was “plagiarism” if two people talked about the same thing. So someone on Monday might talk about how many comments a day they get on their blog and if someone talked about the same thing next week, the first person would want “credit” for the idea, regardless of whether the second person was even inspired by/had seen their blog post.

    But then I think “crediting” people took the negative turn that a blogger could still get yelled at for “copying” another blogger, even if they linked back. And so I assume people stopped because you can’t get negative attention for NOT linking to another blogging on a very general topic.

    Also, I think book bloggers, in general, don’t always appreciate what one might term a “robust discussion,” so if someone saw Person A write about how paranormal romance is the height of literary art, and they wanted to respond and disagree, it could also turn negative if Person A felt “attacked” by the response instead of valuing it as an alternative viewpoint.

    I guess this is all very cynical, but it’s my sense that, in the…nine? years I’ve been blogging, bloggers have gotten much more cautious about how they interact and how what they say is being interpreted. Many bloggers say they would love links back as a sign of appreciation, but sometimes I think blogger are scared of what might happen if they link back and get negative attention for it.

    1. Wow, I’ve NOT thought of it that way. I guess I’ve been lucky in my linking back so far in that I’ve not gotten any flak for it.

      It is kind of sad that the threat of “plagiarism” (using the word in quotes because inspiration =/= plagiarism!) has dulled the link-back culture because I honestly find it very refreshing to see a good back and forth. And yeah, sure, there are people who do it in the comments but a blogpost gives you a lot more room to develop your ideas and have them seen by someone else who could develop it further (or help refine it) and so forth.

      I really wish we could have a more robust culture of discussion! You’d think that because we like books (which are about stories and ideas), we’d be more comfortable with talking about our opinions and holding space for disagreements.

      1. I don’t know how prevalent this fear is anymore, but there were a few big bloggers (who shall be unnamed) who were some of the ones complaining that other people were writing posts on similar topics, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the older bloggers still around remember this. It may have just been a gradual change of blogger norms that happened and now newer bloggers don’t even realize that link backs used to be more common. But this does mean that things could change again if people start up the practice!

        I agree, though, that there’s more room to develop a concept and discuss it in a blog post. Plus, really, I think if you find yourself writing, say, a five or six paragraph comment back to someone, you really should consider turning it into a blog post! It’s clearly good content you have, which deserves to be showcased on your blog and not hidden away in the comments!

  2. I link to blogs when doing tags, like you’re meant to. Occasionally I link to another blogger’s original post if I am directly responding to their idea. I usually also summarize their thesis and give them credit for raising the topic. I have only done this a few times, and luckily, so far, it hasn’t backfired on me as Krysta mentions it can.

    I don’t mind it when another blogger links to me in a roundup. It means they liked the post, and who knows, perhaps it will drive a tiny bit of traffic to my site, though everyone knows that we can’t all follow every link in a roundup or tag post. My list of followers has been slowly growing, but I don’t actually know how they are finding me. I think it may actually be through comments sections.

    1. I think quite a few people find me through the comments section as well!

      Yes, I think I do something similar to you? Like I talked about a TBR list and whether it needs to be achievable after reading about someone who gave tips on tackling the TBR list – which in retrospect could have backfired but luckily didn’t!

  3. Personally, I always link back to posts that provided inspiration when I remember to. But especially if I get an idea as I read a blog post, when I write down the idea for myself, I make sure to include a link to the post that inspired me. But I’m not too hard on myself, and if a quick search can’t remind me who inspired me, that usually means that they posted a while ago and I’m just getting around to writing my idea now, so I don’t feel too bad about not mentioning their post. If I was inspired my a more recent post, then I definitely feel like I need to find whatever post was the source of my inspiration.

    On top of that in all my monthly wrap ups I include the posts that I enjoyed the most and/or think people can benefit from reading! These are the posts that as I read I really enjoy, or the ones that stand out to me as I go through the posts I’ve commented on/liked over the past month. I think that bloggers get little recognition as it is, so if I have the chance to showcase their best work, I’m going to do so!

    1. It’s good to know you like being linked to for monthly wrap-ups! I really want to do something like that (though I don’t do wrap-ups now) but the thought of tracking all the links… :p

      For individual posts, I normally create a draft with the post title + paste the inspiration link practically after I read it, so that I don’t forget to write/who inspired me! I honestly think that’s the only thing that helps me to keep crediting everyone.

  4. I usually link to other blogs when I write the review of a book they recommended (via comments or their own book review), or when I write a post inspired by their post. And I keep track of this by using a similar method as you are – I have a list with books to read and links of bloggers, so when I write the review it’s easy to check.

    When I include links to other blogs I do it to help readers discover that blog and promote the content I liked. I would not do it with a negative purpose, and until now I haven’t been linked that way.

    1. Thanks for sharing, Georgiana! I think I link mainly to reviews too – linking to blogs for discussion posts are much less frequent events for me.

  5. I link if it’s relevant to the post – for example when a post of mine referenced your post about tuo cha’s origins – that’s probably a habit I got into at Uni, where it was a major faux pas not to list all the material your work drew upon.

    I also link back to posts that have inspired one of my own. Not only is it (imho) the polite thing to do, but you’re also giving credit where credit is obviously due…

    1. I agree with you about linking back to posts that inspired you! My university also emphasised crediting work, and I suppose writing my blog during my uni days just made it a part of the blogging habit.

  6. I think it’s good to link back to either give credit to the person or to state who recommended or inspired you to read or post about something. I always link back if I can and will link to the person’s specific review or discussion that inspired me so that other folks can read it too. I think it’s a way to show appreciation/share the love.
    When I’m reading blog posts, I usually have Goodreads open so I can add a link to the review in the “Notes” section after I add the book to my TBR.
    I used to do a series of posts discussing books I recently added to my TBR and would link to the reviews that made me add them. I haven’t done it in a while, but I’m toying with the idea to jump back to it.

    1. I think it’s great that you link back, and thanks for the suggestion about Goodreads! I normally only use it after I’ve posted my review (so I keep track of what I’ve read + reviewed) so using the notes in this way is a new idea for me. Sounds like it can be very useful!

  7. Honestly it varies quite a lot for me. I haven’t been noting down where recommendations for books come from so that is something I need to get into so that I can credit whoever has told me about the book. I really need to organise my bookish life more

    1. I think if you follow a lot of people over different channels (WordPress, Instagram, youtube, etc) it can get very hard to remember who recommended what!

  8. I am terrible about keeping track of who recommended books to me that I read. I used to be a lot better at linking back to other blogs. For a short while, I went so far as to list several review links from blogger friend’s blogs on my own review post so people could go read other opinions of books, but honestly, it just became too much work to keep track of who posted about what book. There was a time I also did a “round up” type link where I would link blog posts that caught my attention during the week or month. Again, a practice I stopped because I’m terrible at tracking and because it is so time consuming. I’m lucky to put up a post at all half the time these days . . .

    I think linking to other blogs is a great way to show appreciation for other bloggers as well as draw attention to them. We’re such a huge community and any bit of advertising (although I hate to use that word–but that’s what it is) can bring in new readers. In my 14 years of blogging, I haven’t run into the negativity that Krysta is talking about in terms of similar features or topics discussed on blogs, but I don’t doubt it exists. I have heard of discussions turning ugly in comments though. It’s when people do not respect other’s differing opinions and start making everything personal. I see that in a couple of the book groups I belong to on Facebook constantly, and it makes me sad. Part of it could be tone–it’s hard to know what someone’s tone is in writing versus in person, but some comments are just downright mean. That’s getting off the subject though. 🙂

    The one time I always link back to a blog is when I am participating in a meme like Book Beginnings or Sunday Post, or what have you. Those are meant to be linked back to because they are community events. I do my best to visit the blog links posted on the main host site, sometimes more successfully than others.

    I do re-tweet blog posts on Twitter sometimes, which is really easy to do. I’m not on Twitter all that much though.

    In terms of discussions, I agree. It is hard to discuss a book you haven’t read. And even when you have, there’s only so much you can say in the comments for risk of spoiling the book for others who haven’t read it.

    1. Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Wendy! You bring up a good point about not respecting differing opinions – I think a lot about books can be subjective (e.g. whether you like a particular trope), but we get so emotionally invested in a book that it can be hard to hear someone disagree. Still, it doesn’t excuse any nastiness that occurs!

What do you think?