The Real Web 2.0

“nofollow” is the new internet. What does this mean? Well it means that instead of the internet being organic and free it becomes controlled and limited to a small group. The big get bigger and the small, well they disappear into obscurity. If you don’t understand what “nofollow” refers to you may have landed at the wrong blog. This is a technical blog. If you do know then perhaps you have turned it on automatically assuming it would help you fight spam? Well, let me contend that this was a mistake. If your loyal site contributors refer to a link then slapping them with a “nofollow” is just discourteous. If you honestly think that the “nofollow” tag will discourage spambots then think again. Has it really? There are much better anti-spam mechanisms available. This site for instance only lets through a bare minimum amount of spam without need for moderation. The spambots don’t even know that your site is adding “nofollow” to their posts. They just keep coming back and posting, over and over. A human being who is taking the time to participate in your community deserves the internet right to link to relevant content. It’s the basis of the internet.

So think twice. Unless you want Facebook and Google to dictate all that is the future internet you may need to draw a line here.