How to Replace Trackback
Since reading JB’s comment on yesterday’s post about trackback, I’ve been debating whether to respond in a comment to his comment or in a whole new post. My time to blog is very limited, so chances are very good I’m going to have to stop mid-post, but here goes anyway.
If trackback worked, I think it would be incredibly useful. Several people have indicated not really understanding the point of trackback, so I’ll start by explaining what it is and why I think the idea is a good thing.
Librarians are always dealing with how to connect related things. Bloggers often want to know who links to their stuff. In an ideal world with no trackback spammers, trackback does both. A server sends a message to another server indicating something links there. The server displays that as a trackback.
I might have a different perspective because I blog here for professional reasons (though not as part of my job), not personally. Were I a personal blogger, maybe I’d be a little bit more concerned with opening my weblog up to just anyone who might link to it. But professionally, I’m always looking for people who are writing about related topics and, of course, interested in learning who looks at the scratchpad. I also think it’s valuable to the scratchpad’s readers to know who is writing related things and who else reads this weblog.
Remember what I said about time being short? I’ve got to go. My apologies.
Basically, I was going to set up a discussion about what could possibly take the place of trackback. What might serve the same purpose but not be a tool of spammers?
