Dave Winer points to a 2005 blog post to remind us that a maxim of the Internet is:
Now the fundamental law of the Internet seems to be the more you send them away the more they come back. It's why link-filled blogs do better than introverts. It may seem counter-intuitive -- it's the new intuition, the new way of thinking. The Internet kicks your ass until you get it. It's called linking and it works.Seems simple enough, but often forgotten. I heard "we don't want to send them off" just yesterday in a business presentation.
People come back to places that send them away. Memorize that one.
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I can't tell you how many times I've preached that newspapers should have taken great advantage of linking to other sites to build their credibility as the destination that will provide you the best content out there in addition to their own. You're absolutely tight, people remember it. if I know that you always have the best stuff, I am going to come back. counterintuitive, yes but not rocket science. The problem I witnessed first-hand in the newspaper industry was the lack of use or at least regular use among decision makers who for years would not bring others to the table. Those conference tables were often filled with like-minded people who were afraid to challenge or go against the grain or who simply want to preserve what has been held so near and dear.
There are people in newsrooms who get it. There really are. But their voices have been drowned in the sea of lame hierarchical systems averse to change.