Link blogs… do yourself a favor
Posted by Davy Brion on August 9th, 2008
I’m currently subscribed to 110 feeds and everyday the number of unread posts is going up. It seems like i just can’t catch up anymore. Of all those unread posts, a lot will be very interesting, but there will also be quite a few that won’t interest me that much. So i’m going to cut back on the number of feeds i’m subscribed to, and i’m going to rely on some fantastic links blogs to point me to the best posts. After all, these guys already spend their time and effort going through a whole lot of posts, why shouldn’t i reuse that? 
These are the four link blogs that i will be counting on to keep me properly updated:
- Alvin Ashcraft’s Morning Dew
- Chris Alcock’s Reflective Perspective
- Jason Haley’s Interesting Finds
- Arjan’s World
I don’t know where these guys find the time to go through all of those posts, but i hope they keep up the great work
So do yourself a favor, check out these link blogs and maybe you can save yourself some time as well
August 10th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
[...] Link Blogs… Do Yourself a Favor (Davy Brion) – Thanks, Davy! [...]
August 11th, 2008 at 1:33 am
It would be nice if bloggers would stop with the “Here’s how I spent my Sunday” blogs, and also the posts of “SQL Server 2008 went gold today” with no value add. The amount of noise in the blog-world is very high these days…
August 11th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Well, I guess we don’t need to know what Don did this Sunday. I’m sure it consisted of things like: 1.) Kicking puppies, 2.) drowning kittens, 3.) peeing on ant mounds and 4.) posting sour on your blog.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:46 am
I mostly agree with the things he said though
August 11th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
That’s pretty interesting, because many people prefer to stay away from the blogs that provide nothing, but merely links. I think there are a lot of web sites that give you great links, like http://www.dzone.com, http://www.dotnetkicks.com.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I used to kinda look down on link blogs as well, but there’s a difference between merely ‘recycling’ other people’s content, or actually providing a very solid selection of all the great posts out there.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Actually, I have the same problem but was thinking about the reverse.
You see, subscribing to blogs should provide you with the information you seek. The link blogs are basically a step back into time where we have an ‘editor’ that filters information and provides what he thinks is informational. But blogs, if used correctly, should provide the mix that _you_ are interested in.
I’m subscribed as well to the linkblogs, but I am not sure if they actually help me or distract me… hmm!
August 11th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Well, i have kept all my feed subscriptions for now to see how this little experiment goes before completely getting rid of them. But i put them in a folder that i’m not going to check all the time, and i will use it to see which interesting blogs aren’t picked up by the link blogs. At least the link blogs will offer a selection of the good posts on the more popular blogs. I will remain subscribed to the other interesting blogs of course
August 11th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Good point. I follow open source posts at http://ossspyglass.com
August 13th, 2008 at 9:18 am
[...] Also, Thanks to Davy Brion for recommending the Morning Brew in his recent post on Link Blogs. [...]
August 15th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I really like http://jarpit.com for Java-ish stuff.
And I maintain two link blogs of my own that may be interesting if you are into these topics:
Java 7
Concurrency
August 16th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I agree with you guys, the links I post are ‘edited’ depending on what I’m working on at the time and what interests me … which can and does change.
I also use to look down on link blogs, as well as the blogs that just recycle other people’s content (I still do find them less valuable). My link blog grew out of me wanting to share what I found interesting with my few online friends several years ago and has not grown to be one of the ‘Microsoft oriented’ blogs … but at the source of why I still do it is to share what I find with others who might get some value from the links.
Link blogs aren’t the answer to your problems, but they may point you at an interesting link when you are looking for one
BTW: I value the great content the quality bloggers are writing out there more than link blogs (even mine).
August 16th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
The line above should be ” has now grown to be …” instead of “has not grown to be …”
August 17th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
[...] Brion recently posted about how he’s trying to ward off the [...]