why links are important
Wednesday September 17, 2008
I have been browsing with an iPod touch lately (basically an iPhone without the phone) and I've noticed an issue - no cut and paste. This means that if I need to type in a URL I need to type in the URL. I found a site I wanted to point out to you, but the writer had not included any links to any social bookmarking services. The URL is too long for me to remember, and I don't want to write it down and then type it in. It's not that good. While other devices allow copy/paste, it's still true that hitting a link is easier than typing, so I would recomend including them, if you can. (And before you point out that this blog doesn't have social bookmarking links, I know. That's not up to me.)
Comments
I actually disagree with your view on this matter. I personally get fed up with blogs and sites cramming in hundreds of social networking links I’ve never heard of. There is no consistency or standard to how and where these are displayed.
It would be much better in my opinion if this were handled like an RSS feed. That is, by the browser.
I have a Iphone 3g myself, and have been able to import a javascript bookmarklet to add any page I’m viewing to my delicious account. It works absolutely fine on the iphone safari browser. When I’m on a page I like, I just go to my bookmarks, select the add to delicious, and it’s saved. It imporrted straight from I.E. bookmarks to my Iphone, with no hassle at all.
Let individuals decide which services they want to use, don’t confuse them with a plethora of strange icons all over your site, which spoil the aesthetics and design.
If it’s done via the browser, we don’t have to worry about the 10 billion plus web pages out there which don’t have social bookmarking links. That has to be simpler surely.
I agree with Simon. Browser is the way to go, not web pages. Download a plugin and be done with it.
I think if used correctly social bookmarking links can be a big asset to a site.
Every thing on the web today is about instant gratification, most users aren’t going to take the time to find bookmarklet unless they’re using a particular site as their primary bookmarking tool, even if they are savvy enough to have bookmarklets on their portable device if there’s no easy way provided for them to do a certain task most users simply won’t bother.