Comments on: No More Trackbacks?

By: McGehee

McGehee — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 17:43:42 +0000

But if itâs a nicely done TB, then Iâm just as likely to click it as a comment.

For most bloggers, I think composing a post for the express purpose of making a good-looking trackback may be ... secondary.

By: WILLisms.com

WILLisms.com — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 05:38:16 +0000

In Defense Of Trackbacks. A terse defense of the trackback feature. Dean's World is considering taking away the trackback feature from his blog, due to an overload of trackback spam ("over a hundred trackback spams a day"). We would urge him not to do...

By: Sherri

Sherri — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 13:07:04 +0000

It seems trackbacks only include the first X characters of the TB post. Sometimes trackbackers babble about something that makes no sense in the part that shows the TB. Also some TBs just show a paste/quote of what the main post already said. So I skip those kinds of TBs. But if it's a nicely done TB, then I'm just as likely to click it as a comment. I don't consider sites without some type of open discussion to be a blog. I'm happy if they have at least one of the following: comments, trackbacks, or a linked-forum with a thread just for that post. I don't care that much for "email me" psuedo-blogs and only subscribe to one.

By: Mark J

Mark J — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 11:52:23 +0000

What are you using to block them? Spam Karma 2 with WordPress 1.5 is a beast, and you only get digests of spam every X hours.

By: bryan

bryan — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 20:54:52 +0000

I've gotten a lot of traffic from trackbacks at certain times on certain subjects. I haven't had any trackback spam recently. My main problem is that my WP automatic trackback function doesn't work as well as it did on MT. It's definitely beneficial for lower level bloggers to generate readership from people who wouldn't normally have a lot of readers.

By: LB

LB — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 17:10:35 +0000

Several people found me via trackbacks during Rathergate. They're definitely add value to a blog.

By: McGehee

McGehee — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 16:47:28 +0000

I always check out TBs to my posts, and do sometimes follow TBs from other bloggers' posts if it's a subject I'm interested in. But then, I'm a blogger. And it's true that not all links to any given post will result in a trackback, but I also check Technorati for those. As for trackback spam, the platform I use, ExpressionEngine, is vulnerable if you don't pay close attention to the notifications and blacklist offenders as soon as you spot them. Yesterday I got two spam attempts and was able to blacklist both before they were repeated -- and a successful blacklisting also deletes the offenders automatically, which is nice.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 16:33:55 +0000

I turned off trackbacks a couple of months ago and have not missed them. I have an RSS feed from Technorati that lets me know when somebody links to one of my posts.

By: Don Singleton

Don Singleton — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 16:15:49 +0000

Trackback
I decided to do some research about TrackBack Spam

By: Just Me

Just Me — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 16:10:54 +0000

I don't have a blog, but read blogs regularly.

I use trackbacks, and have found several blogs I check regularly from them.

By: Jon Henke

Jon Henke — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 16:08:35 +0000

I suspect that trackbacks are mostly a way for bloggers to tell other bloggers about their entry. i.e., it's not the readers who the TBer is intended for, but the blogger, who may follow the link back and see what we've written, be it response or further detail.

By: lunacy

lunacy — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 16:05:30 +0000

I'm not a blogger, although I visit many and often. I follow trackbacks if they look interesting enough OR are a blogger who's opinion/writing I enjoy OR hint to a sufficiently contrary view to spark my curiousity.

Lunacy

By: Don Singleton

Don Singleton — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 15:21:17 +0000

I certainly follow trackbacks, to find additional blogs that address a particular subject. I particularly like them when I am blogging an item on my blog, so that I can quote what other bloggers have thought about the same topic. If I quote a blog and if it offers a TrackBack, I also attempt to do a trackback to my blog's entry so the quoted blogger can see if I have quoted him correctly.

I hope that you will continue trackbacks.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 14:58:05 +0000

Aside from my first thing in the morning reads, I use trackbacks almost exclusively to surf. If you only use your blogroll, you'll never find anything new.