Reply All · Episode 189
The hyperlink was supposed to be the most democratic technology ever invented. Anyone could link to anything, and those links formed a web of human knowledge that no single entity controlled.
This episode tells the story of how links went from being gifts — ‘here, look at this amazing thing’ — to being transactions — ‘click here so I get paid.’ It interviews the people who remember when a link from someone you trusted was the highest form of recommendation, and the SEO consultants who turned linking into a business.
The most poignant moment comes when a blogger describes the feeling of discovering a link to her site on someone else’s blogroll. ‘It was like someone leaving a note on your desk that said: I see you. I think you’re interesting.’