[Discuss] list etiquette for posting links

[tmetro-blu at vl.com (Tom Metro)]

Dan O'Donovan wrote:
> Nilanjan Palit <tollygunj at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/code-for-america-an-elegant-solution-for-government-it-problems/2011/12/16/gIQAXrIu2O_story.html                            
> 
> This is a good story? This is a bad story? You agree with this? You
> don't agree? This story is worth us spending time to read, but not
> you to comment on?

In my opinion (not BLU list policy), as a matter of mailing list
etiquette, I don't think it is necessary for the OP citing a link to
provide commentary on it, but I do think all links necessitate some form
of summary, be it a self-explanatory title, quote from the article, or
hand written summary.

Remember that your posting will live on the archives probably long after
the link has ceased to operate.

Not to mention if you want to motivate someone to follow the link, it
generally helps to provide some sort of a teaser. (My personal policy is
that I rarely follow links posted without explanation. Along the lines
of what Dan said: if you can't be bothered to summarize, then I can't be
bothered to click on it.)

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/