The official word on linking to blogs

[octoburn]

Please recall that the Terms of Services prohibits user content that



The intention is not to prohibit links to news blogs discussing current events. The moderators will remove any content that, in their opinion, violates this non-commercial aspect of the TOS.

~ giggles ~

[yuca]

I guess everybody deserves a win every once and a while. Good thing for the residents of Baltimore you didn't get that win in the form of an election.

Speaking of an election... I started a poll about this topic on OM. Enjoy.

Oh wait... Am I allowed to post links to my polls?

[Sprightly]

That doens't mean trolling for clicks isn't a scumby practice. I'm sure you'll continue to do it, and you'll continue to be called on it.

And maybe you'll get banned for harrassing posters about it. Admin stated its position on the matter. Deal with it and stop nagging.

[Occam]

And maybe you'll get banned for harrassing posters about it. Admin stated its position on the matter. Deal with it and stop nagging.

It's fair game to call people on poor practices.

[APOLLOS]

Please recall that the Terms of Services prohibits user content that



The intention is not to prohibit links to news blogs discussing current events. The moderators will remove any content that, in their opinion, violates this non-commercial aspect of the TOS.

So a blog site discussing news, one that happens to be regularly visited by folks from the Baltimore Sun, Washington Times, CBS TV, WBAL, Baltimore Police, MD State Govt., any so many more, placing a relevant link is more than appropriate in abiding with the rules.

Whether the news is on a personal site, or a mainstream one, what difference should it make. News is news.

[Trace21230]

Just for clarification....if I link to someone else's blog to discuss a piece they've written, then that's OK?

[APOLLOS]

It's fair game to call people on poor practices.

Lay off it already. Your side lost. The admins confirmed what I've said all along. Incidentally, if the Sun was so upset with me, why would their reporters email me and check out my site on a regular basis.

Further more, my discussions on here has gotten a ton of views RIGHT here and encouraged discussion thereby bring more clicks and users to THIS SITE.

The Baltimore Spectator often has stories and headlines linking directly back to the Sun. Therefore, when people visit The Spectator, they often find a Sun article highlighted that they may have otherwise missed. This results in traffic going back to Sun. So no one is taking advantage of anything here.

Again, the whole thing is the free and open sharing of INFORMATION.

[APOLLOS]

Nice. I wasn't one of those who complained, but it is interesting that you were the straw that broke the camel's back on this one. At least the other bloggers actually added some value in their blogs. From what I saw, you basically posted a link to a link, with no commentary. You even posted the same link three times in one post.

I, for one, will never click on one of your links again. And I'll defend the other bloggers here, but not you. I'm sorry I bothered trying to defend you.

Btw, referring to people here as "bastards" and "losers" are further violations of the TOS on your part.

You don't have to. The volume of traffic coming to the site shows there are many who appreciate our summaries and commentary. Even if we link to someone's articles as the source, there's typically a line or two on it.

Not much difference from a search engine listing. Again, if someone ends up on a Sun article or some other source, by coming onto my blog. Then good on the place that they actually end up on. We've directed additional traffic to the source.

The Baltimore Spectator will continue to grow and do well, whether or not someone like you decides to click on it. If you only knew how many people have privately given us kudos and thumbs ups! Elected officials included.

By the way, our original reporting and commentary I guess don't count to you. Special reports and video productions and feature stories. But alas, I shall no more waste time nor energy explaining or defending. To me, this issue is settled and done.

My thanks to Matt and all of the admin staff and decision makers around here. Let the show carry on.


A.F. James MacArthur

[Occam]

Lay off it already. Your side lost.

I'll continue to call you on poor practices, too. From what I've seen you have no idea of how to conduct yourself as a contributing member of a discussion forum but do know how to take advantage of it to troll for clicks. For shame.

BTW, "further more" is one word.

Now to specifics: "If the posts by those users (and any other posters, for that matter) serve no purpose other than to link to their personal Web sites, then that is against the TOS". That is what you do, and that's what I call you on. A few fake words around your link won't work. It's still trolling for clicks. Again, for shame.

[manofthecrowd]

Indeed. Let the show carry on.

[Talk Admin]

If any blogger has original reporting on a subject, please post it. We'll even link to it on the breaking news blog if it's a major story. But further disruption of the conversation to promote personal sites will result in suspension.

We know the conversation is much bigger than what we cover. That's why the talk boards exist and it's why we regularly link to competitors from our breaking news blog.

Post all the links you want. Just make sure it's news.

[Talk Admin]

Test post.