8 Reasons Not to Have a Blogroll
Lots of people have a blogroll -- a list of blogs which the blog or website owner reads -- on the front page of their blog or website. I happen to think it is a practice which sets a poor example to students whom we instruct to set up a website as part of an assignment.
Here are the reasons that I don't have one myself.
Reason 1: Marketing
I think from what may be called a marketing point of view, having a blogroll on the front page is rather silly. To my mind, it's the equivalent of a store displaying a list of other stores outside the main entrance! I know (before you contact me to tell me that I "don't get it") that one of the factors that makes blogging vibrant is the link journalism aspect, but I don't think that a blogroll is the right way to incorporate it. Certainly not on the front page, anyway.
Reason 2: Context
When I see a list of blogs on someone's website, I have no idea why I should be interested in them. This is especially so when the subject matter covered by a blog is not obvious from its name. Why would I wish to inflict the same kind of confusion on others?
Reason 3: Maintenance
Having a blogroll means having extra site maintenance to do. I follow hundreds of blogs, and every so often some of them move to a different server, or give up the ghost altogether, which results in the main URL leading to a page containing the new URL or, worse, an error page.
It's also conceivable that one or two URLs might end up pointing to a third party website that advertises porn or web hosting deals or other irrelevant rubbish. (It has been known to happen: a geography education website officially approved by an education agency in the UK was sold off, and the URL then led to a pornography site.)
I just don't have the time, or the inclination, to keep checking the links in order to avoid these kinds of problems.
Reason 4: Reputation
This is closely linked to reason number 3. Listing blogs is, of course, to recommend them. If they suddenly go off the rails in some way, or even simply post an article with which I am in strong disagreement, that could reflect back on me. I'd rather not take that chance.
Reason 5: Creating an impression
To my mind, one of the reasons for displaying a list of blogs he or she reads is, I suspect, a blogger's way of signalling how well-read he is. It is the equivalent of having rows and rows of books which one has never read, or just dipped into once or twice. If you really have read all these blogs, or do so on a regular basis, surely the best place to demonstrate that fact is within your own posts?
Reason 6: Being honest, and being seen to be so
This is very much tied in to reason number 5. I don't have the time to read all the blogs I follow on a regular basis. Would it not be dishonest, in some sense, to give the impression that I do?
My best effort involves dipping into my list of blogs two or three times a week, and skimming through a sample of them to see if any of the blog posts catch my eye.
Those people who list dozens or even scores of blogs in their blogroll -- do they really expect me to believe that they read all of them all the time? And if not, why bother to display them all in the first place?
Reason 7: Originality of thought
If someone lists dozens of blogs in their blogroll, and reads them all assiduously, doesn't that imply that they have little time left for some original thinking? One of the reasons I follow the people I do is that they don't just react all the time, but come up with stuff all on their own. Assuming that I'm not the only person who thinks like that, why would I wish to give the impression that I don't have an original thought in my head?
Reason 8: No hard feelings
Another reason I shy away from having a blogroll is that I'd be concerned about leaving people out. Silly, perhaps, but I sometimes feel slightly "miffed" when I notice that someone who I know reads my blog hasn't listed it in their blogroll. I shouldn't wish to upset someone else in a similar way!
The best way to link
The best place to link to other blogs, in my opinion, is from within a blog post. That addresses all the points listed here. It provides context, and therefore a more sensible reason to send the reader off to someone else's blog. To continue my store analogy, it's a bit like a particular department in a store recommending other stores that provide complimentary goods and services. That happens in the right place, and also at the right time -- after you have actually entered the store!
As for dead links, in my experience, blogs may change their URL, but quite often the location of the original post remains. But where that is not the case, or where the website gets taken over by a holding company or worse, the likelihood is that a reader will inform me when a link doesn't work, so I don't feel the need to be doing maintenance all the time.
And I think it's a more honest approach. I'm not saying I read hundreds of blogs all the time, just that I read a couple for that particular article.
Hopefully, that also gets across the point that I do have original thoughts too, that I don't merely rely on others to post something to which I can react.
And, of course, by referring to nobody as part of a list, I upset nobody -- or everybody!
blogging honesty, blogrolls in News & views 
Reader Comments (12)
I respectively disagree with everything you say. It's about connecting to others; creating a network of people to learn with and from. It's rather presumptuous to think that only you can dole out the names of people I might prefer. Contrary to what you think, I don't list blogrolls to impress anyone. I keep my list short. These are people who have inspired me beyond imagination and they might just inspire you, too. If I admire your voice and what you have to say, I want to find out who else you read. That's my choice. I can click on those other blogs...or not.
As for thinking I have no original thoughts...who cares? Either you want to read me or you don't. It's really that simple.
Thx for yr comment, Cary. Apologies if I came across as presumptuous, that certainly wasn't my intention. I've looked at your blogroll and I notice that it's nice and short! I thought your blog looks interesting, btw, and I've subscribed.
Always interesting to get a counter point of view!
I think this depends a great deal on what the theme/direction of your blog is, and what your purpose is in having a blogroll.
I maintain an extensive blogroll linking to respected colleagues that I know reasonably well and can rely on to provide good relevant content related closely to the field I am in (and my blog represents). I don't have major problems maintaining and checking it, as there is a level of familiarity and trust in putting a new entry into my blogroll to start with.
I also use others' blogrolls reasonably often, as it can be a good heads up if there is a new blog listed that I haven't come across before. Given I only really link to people who blogroll in a very similar way (and for a similar purpose) to mine, it's turned out to be quite reliable and great for wider exploration.
I think "willy-billy" blogrolls definitely fall prey to the considerations you meantion, but - if I may be forgiven for saying so - I think you've over-generalised here!
Thanks for a thoughtful post, though.
~ Jason
Well done, Terry - first presumptuous, then obsequious in your response to Cary! You certainly are forcing us to find adjectives ending in -ous to describe your stance.
It's always interesting to read that someone 'never has time' to do something and then writes a blog-post as long as that.
I have a very long blogroll of people whose blogs I have visited and found to be interesting. I don't visit them that often, but I hope they have something of value to the people who visit my site, too.
It's a symbiotic thing, and I know of several instances where like-minded people have got in touch, having first 'met' via my blogroll. If it brings people together in this disparate world, it's good enough for me.
I think all your reasons are spurious (another adjective ending in -ous) except the rather remote possibility that one of the sites on my blogroll might be taken over by porn merchants.
Actually, come to think of it, what a laugh that would be! But I hardly think anyone who visited the site via my website would seriously think I had sent them there on purpose.
Hope you're not too busy to read this.
Have a great weekend.
Ken
It's very rare that I come across a (non-political) blog post with which I agree so utterly and completely. Congratulations!
Hello Terry,
About the points you mention:
I personally have a blogroll on my blog listing only the people I find interesting to read. I do not do it because someone else has me on their blogroll. I have had people who have commented on my blog whose blogs I do not have listed. I know people who do read my blog, but do not have me on their roll (and I do not feel "miffed" at all, as you mention; they have their reasons and I do not mind).
I strongly disagree with point 7 (Originality of Thought). For me, reading other people's blogs is like attending seminars and workshops; I learn a lot from them and manage at the same time to have thoughts of my own.
As for advertising blogs on the front page being like advertising other shops, I do not see blogging as a competition. Whoever wants to read my blog, will. And I am happy to recommend a blog of another person I have found interesting. I know people who have found me from other sources and not only blogrolls. All it takes is for someone to simply enter your name in a search engine.
Blogging for me is an enjoyable and educational experience at the same time. Other people's blogs are a great part of my ongoing learning process as a teacher!
Kindest regards,
Vicky
The perils of not prrof reading. That comment should have read "Disagree", which of course makes it very different :-)
Pooh pooh. How can one be anti-blogroll? A blog is one's personal space, I say one does what one wants. To me -- and I have been blogging for over four years -- a blogroll is a list of blogs you read, would like to read, or that could interest your readers.
Of course, if it's all from a MARKETING standpoint, there are arguments against taking your readers "off the page..." But that's not why I blog.
@Jason Well I suppose it all comes down to personal preference. I also like reading other people's blogrolls for the reasons you mention, but for me the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
I think I'd be more inclined to have one if the entries could be displayed at random, because then I wouldn't feel like I had deliberately left anyone out. So, if anyone knows of a blogroll app that does that, I'm interested!
@Ken I don't think I was being obsequious! Everyone's entitled to their point of view, and although Cary and I disagree on this, that didn't stop me liking the look of his blog!
As for the reasons being spurious, that's a matter of perspective isn't it? If you find a blogroll works for you, for the reasons you state, then that's great, but one man's meat etc.
Incidentally, I like your blog too, having discovered it through your comment here! I hope that isn't too obsequious.
Regarding time: apologies to you and everyone else for taking an age to respond. I was at the BETT show last week and am still in catch-up mode!
@Andy Ah, you raised my spirits, only to cruelly dash them again. I feel flattered that you've never disagreed with a post so deeply as you do mine. But why?
@Vicky thx, I think you're right about everything you say, but I do worry about inadvertently appearing to snub someone who doesn't appear on my blogroll. But you've made me think (as have most of the other people who have commented on it).
@Betty I think you're right but in my case part of my reason for blogging is marketing in a sense: I want people to read what I have to say in the hope that they will think I am so intelligent and erudite that they can't wait to engage my services! So the last thing I want to do is send them of to someone else's blog before they've even had to a chance to read mine!