Hyperlink sparingly

The web built its back and part of its ass (aka derriere) on hyperlinks. I don't think they're overrated, and I never will (time travel has told me so), but sometimes I come across webpages that have too many hyperlinks.

How can that be? After all, aren't hyperlinks present for context, to help me make sense of a word (or phrase) in a bigger sea of text? Yes, but too many things to click on also increases choices — what's termed a Tofflerian surplus complexity — and often, if I really want to find something out at my own whims, as opposed to following the consequential interpretation said hyperlink creator has given me, I may just use Google.

Seeing as how single hyperlinks that go to a different place each time aren't standard and really haven't caught on besides JavaScript hacks and Flash follies (and hello XLink?), the element of surprise is negated when I can often see the full address at the bottom of my web browser. That's a good thing, yes? Most of the time.

Too many hyperlinks often don't get clicked on, and thus aren't used. Waste… slop! They could be, but let's look at the practical essentials, and summarize that they most likely won't: the time you put into making them — even if that's just a few seconds for each one, retrieving it, then copying-and-pasting — all add up. Hyperlinks can be distracting when you're focused on writing the meat of a blog post, which is why I suppose I haven't seen a WriteRoom-type program optimized for blogging come up (maybe it's out there and didn't surface in my searches).

For all those times I have frequently-used links and can't be bothered to link each one, I turn to the joyful automator that is aLinks: it automatically generates links for defined keyphrases and has saved me a bundle whenever I type, oh, Second Life. If you use WordPress, I recommend not just "looking into it", but trying it too.

Lest I sound like a growly curmudgeon, there are some rare sites where masses of hyperlinks are often used to great effect, often clustered with tremendous density around given subject matter: MetaFilter, its name withstanding, is an outstanding example of this. Tag clouds are known to delight Web 2.0-ists yet clutter newcomers. Wikipedia is ubiquitous with linky tangents along a path. But I doubt even the most experienced of design architects would be so compelled to click every link on Jakob Nielsen's usability website. (Ooops, almost forgot.) And by far and large, since hyperlinks are distinguished by underline or another styling, they can quickly become an eyesore (as bold can be) if making appearances in large numbers. Not always, or even often, but mostly sometimes.

My approach: I'll hyperlink to shed light on inspirations + influences behind a post. I'll hyperlink to provide contact info, and "further details" too onerous, too rich to cram onto a single page. But I won't just hyperlink simply because "it can be and related material exists elsewhere on the Internet". For after too many hyperlinks, one becomes very, very tired. Furthermore, it's well-known (passive voice) that verbose hyperlinks can't survive in a vacuum of no-text, so the solution may simply be to tighten up on prose and strip unnecessary words.

Hyperlinks are more like members of a big band (think The Arcade Fire's ethno-leanings mixed with the Polyphonic Spree's color) than the audience. The concertgoers are important and help the band generate a furious amount of energy to play well into the night, pound out those climaxes (my! That sounds saucy), and even return for a couple encores. But a band without an audience is nothing, and so is a hopingly attentive crowd lacking its bandleadership.

However, I do wish Tim Berners-Lee's picture was hyperlinked to a bigger version.

Tagged as: General, Ideas, The Web