For similar reasons to this post, this post is annoying. And, to make sure my example is all cool and deconstructionist, this very post you’re reading would annoy me were I reading it and not writing it.

Why?

Because I don’t tell you much about what I’m linking to or why it’s interesting enough that you should read it. If you’re going to have a post that merely points out other people’s material on the Web rather than using it as a springboard for your own thoughts or writing your own piece from whole cloth, you should function as a mediating shopper and let me know why I, as a busy reader, should bother to visit the pages to which you link.

There’s nobody I trust well enough to visit every link they give me just on their say so, particularly on a busy day. I don’t want to waste time trying to figure out what a post is talking about–either yours or the one you’re linking to.

Some don’t require much description, and some would be spoiled by too much description: for example, funny links like the a site about the new map of the US.

But in general, tell me what it’s about, something of what it says, and what’s interesting about it and why I should read further.