October 11, 2004

• I'm not aware of any actual custom, so I can just speak about my own practices. If it's a major blog with a lot of traffic (I have atrios, Gaiman, WWDN and so forth linked in my sidebar so that I can find them easily), I don't bother emailing. If it's a smaller blog that I've stumbled across, I'll usually write a quick note to the author telling them that I enjoy the site and that I plan on linking it. That's a good policy; I'm always flattered when people link to me and follow up with a note saying that they dig the site, so I've implemented that as my strategy as well.
• Generally I would say link away. That's what they are for, no need to ask permission. If someone doesn't want something linked, they should keep it off the "internets". That said, if you are going to link from a large site (i.e. Slashdot or MeFi) perhaps then you should ask, as you will probably eat their bandwidth for the month and take them down inside an hour.
• If it is available to the public, then link to it. As Pivo said, perhaps show some consideration before killing their bandwidth, but if they don't want people to read it they shouldn't post it.
• How big your site is also plays into it. Someone I linked to from my site got a little huffy, as they mostly just wanted their close friends and family to read it. I get a moderate amount of traffic through mine, so it was an understandable concern.
• I agree with what's been said, with the addition that, if you're already getting the link off of another high-traffic site (read: any site that has it's own word for taking down another site's server), then I wouldn't worry too much about permission, since the damage is already done. If you're getting it off of google or someplace obscure, then the above suggestions are appropriate.
• Link away. I'm sure your site will be almost as big as /., though, Jane, so it might be an idea to ask before hitting them with all that traffic.
• DONOT LINK MY BLOGG OR ELES ILL SUE!!#!? sorry, i had to
• should we send a note to the site owner before each post?
• My blog's almost two years old and I've never asked anyone if I could link to them. I've also never gotten any flak from anyone who didn't want me linking to them.
• What Cropshy said. Often I'll get a "thanks for the link" comment or e-mail; I've never had any complaints, and it's never occurred to me to ask first -- I assume bloggers live to be linked. On the other hand, I only get a few hundred visitors a day, so it doesn't exactly produce the dreaded Slashdot Effect.
• Cool. I'm not worried about big sites - more concerned about personal blogs that, though public, somebody might get huffy about, as happened to f8xmulder. Basically, it seems like unless you'll screw with their bandwidth, it's ok to link. Thanks monkeys and monkettes. BTW, completely off-topic; once when I was working at a coffee joint, it got real slow, and me and a coworker started to wonder what exactly the correct term would be for a baby monkey or ape. Monkling? Apelet? we ended up phoning a zoo, and they weren't sure either, but dug up a keeper who told us what it was. They're infants, just like people.
• Just go ahead and link. Seriously, what are you afraid of? Linking is the bread and butter of the internet. It is an honour to be linked, and a duty to link to others! Writing a publicly accessible blog is a conscious act of publication. If you were a big site like Slashdot, you might be expected to be more conscious of side effects, but even then the issue of traffic surges is a technical problem, with technical solutions, not a social problem.
• Being a dick - which is why I asked.
• I think if it's a no-security site on the net, it's public, and open to all. And as such, open to linking.
• You're not being a dick. HTH, HAND.
• In the case of rather unknown personal blogs you should ask. Just for politeness.
• Dear Proprieter of Unknown Personal Blog, I wonder if I may please have some politeness? In anticipation, I remain, yours faithfully,
• Dear Skrik, You are a dick.
• Hey, at least he's not a narc.