People don't usually follow links, in whatever manner they are formatted. People join forums in order to talk to other people. If they wanted links, they'd go to the Drudge Report or some other such site. Sometimes we include links so that others don't think we're just making something up. In order to keep others from thinking that we're making things up, we leave a link to a published source that probably just made it up. We might think that a link to an article in the New York Times will lend credibility to whatever point we're trying to make. That's okay with me. What bothers me is when someone doesn't even put in the effort of making a point, but simply posts a link, hoping that someone else will make the point for them. Another reason for posting a link is for those who might want additional information. Since it's illegal to post the entirety of an article that might be of interest to us, we might quote a small section of it, with a link to the full article. Some people do click on them, but most don't. I usually don't, but I sometimes do. Most often, it's either something I've already read before or that I don't have enough interest in to click on it. Regardless, if someone is going to quote a portion of an article or discuss something that they've read elsewhere, it's good form to post a link to the article whether people are going to click on it or not. Far more valuable to me, as the forum administrator, and I think even as a member of the forum, are the things that the members of this forum have to say, and I would love to see more original content and less linking. I'm way more interested in what you have to say than in what some blogger or media source has to say. If you want to discuss something you've read without leaving a link, that's fine with me as long as you're not quoting the article. When you quote, there should be a link. Otherwise, each of us has a lot of information in our heads, and we can't remember where most of it came from, whether it's something we learned from a teacher, from our parents, books that we read, or a newspaper article, once we have absorbed it into the body of knowledge that we have in our heads, it's ours.
@ Tom Young If other people are like me, they save longer YouTube videos to 'watch later' and longer reads to 'read later'. Stopping in the middle of forum social hour for a longer period of time on another site .....probably isn't done all that much. It doesn't indicate no one is interested.
I agree with @Bess Barber . If a video or article is long, I don't have time to watch or read it. I will click on it and if it says the video is 35/45 minutes, I just don't have time to watch it. I close it out. An article has to be something that I am really interested in before I'll take time to read it.
.............................................................................................................................................................................................. Point taken... It's rare that I post a link just for someone to read. When I do, it's usually to expand and offer more points for discussion. When a member presents a point for discussion (agree or disagree), and I'm on the same train of thought, if I think it's a link that expands the subject, I'll post. I guess what I'm really saying is when something is said that indicates the poster either doesn't care about the subject (in which case the "I'm here" is not necessary) or wants to discuss , in which case digging in to understand (or agree/disagree) helps to broaden the discussion. In particular, a subject originally posted by you... that will eventually one of the most important subjects in our lifetime. Recapping and writing as new information that comes out almost daily, in order to avoid posting a link, would be very difficult. http://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/social-credit-system.10518/ Yes... not everyone will be interested, and that's okay, but for those who ARE interested, recent links should be welcome. Just my opinion...
I'm not saying that links are bad, only that most people won't click on them. A lot of people won't read long forum posts either, but I still post long forum posts. If only one or two people read it, that's okay. I'll carry on the discussion with those people. If no one cares enough to reply, I'll carry on a discussion with myself. Sometimes it's nice to have an intelligent conversation, anyhow.
I only click on embedded links if I'm interested in the topic. Also, as others have said I usually don't have time to watch a 40-minute video or a long article. It is not unheard of for someone with ulterior motives to post a harmful link for tracking, link spam or ransomware. I take the time to "hover" my mouse over a link to make sure I know where it's taking me. I often post links to videos and add the run-time to my post so that people will know how long it is without having to open the video.
Thanks for the exemption, since I am in fact limited by my android tablet capabilities. I was just pleased that your system somehow automatically turned a copied URL into a link, since my tablet doesn't seem to have a method for doing that either.
Doing a proper hyperlink isn't that hard, you know. It's been a part of the Internet from the very beginning, and it's 100% better than the long URL hyperlinks that make the forum posts look ugly and play hell with our SEO.
A half hour of web research tonight has not produced any answers for me on this issue, though I do read many complaints from Android Evernote users that it can't be done. It's not the only potential flaw with Android, but I'm dependent solely upon it.
On a smartphone, appropriate hyperlinks can be difficult. I know that it can be done on an iPhone, but I don't know about Android. I don't even like typing online on my phone.
I'm actually using a very good Android tablet with the new 9 version. I can access the desktop sites too when mobile problems sometimes arise. It has deficiencies compared to a MS or IOS operating system; but it serves me well for my full time world travels. I'll ask my IT knowledgable friend after Christmas when I hit the Philippines. He likes figuring new things out, but I'm not confident there is a simple solution since I've found other flaws that Google seems to accept.
Hmmm, I just posted a couple of links to youtube songs in the"post a new song title using a word from the previous title" forum...hope I understood this and posted correctly. I haven't seen the answer anywhere to this...Also, when I go to post in a thread...do I go to Page 1 or the last page to post AND how do I reply without "quoting" somebody? Thanks!
Youtube links should show what the youtube video is about. Other links (hyperlinks) just show the link as a clickable link that people can either choose to click or not, When you post in a thread, it automatically goes to the last page of the thread and at the end of the thread. It looks like you are posting in another page because at the bottom of each thread page is the place to write a new post; but the post will still only be at the very last post in the thread. So, if you are responding to something that is from an earlier page/post in the thread, it is always a good idea to quote the post you are referencing (use the quote link at the bottom right of the post you are quoting), and you can also refer to another person by using the “@“ sign and then their name, and they will get an alert that you are saying something to them, or about their post in the thread. Hope this helps, @Sunny Bonet . If not , we will work on it until you have everything figured out here.
@Yvonne Smith Ahhh, thank you so much for that information. I do learn some things as I look at other posts and as I post but the posting on which page really had me baffled. Again thank you, that helped a lot!