Hyperlinks within online text.

Recently I read a blog entry or an article that mentioned how the use of hyperlinks within a text furthered the information to the reader and helped as a source of reference. The main purpose of the article was to highlight and call attention to important point that a presentation should have and how these hyperlinks gave the reader more information as well as validating the information the text made reference to.

Although the article made much sense and I have incorporated this practice to some of my online writing, I do have to say that sometimes the hyperlinks are more than a source for further knowledge but in reality, a distraction to the reader. The practice of using hyperlinks within text is a great tool when referencing other works from the author or when referencing specific published information that the author would like to bring into their text - it is the modern footnote.

I do not consider myself to be a reader with a short attention span, on the contrary, I think that the more I know the better informed I am. Taking this into account, the presence of these hyperlinks are like bait for a thirsty mind. While reading a particular article, I have found myself clicking on the hyperlinks and what I find at the other side of the rainbow is not a pot of gold, but another article with hyperlinks throughout the first couple of words.

So I set out to read an important article about the economy - in the first sentence, the author is already referencing another article he/she wrote last week and then the question is raised, should I read it? If you are anything like me, you will find that the answer to that question is obvious - you have to click on that link, because to understand what you are reading you need to read the information that is being referenced to make an educated decision. So you read the previous article and feel ready to read this week’s, and return with a smile to your original point. Once the first sentence is completed, the second sentence not only has one, but three or four hyperlinks to other articles by different sources and the biography of a person that is mentioned. So once again you click and read all the back-stories to those important events. By the time that a reader has completed the first paragraph, he or she has read five or six articles, two biographies and somehow found your way into Wikipedia more than you would like - nothing wrong with Wikipedia, but that was not the original intention.

How and when to use hyperlinks:

At first I thought it was a great tool, I could read a particular article and if I wanted anymore information it was just a click away using hyperlinks. The problem is that it becomes a vicious cycle - like pop-ups from unnecessary sources that just call for attention.

A reader sometimes just wants to be informed of a particular subject and a small summary of the back story would do. For a writer, the use of hyperlinks permits them to focus mainly in the task at hand and let the reader take advantage of other information available in the Internet - the problem is that the Internet is full of information and sometimes a person may drown while cyber-surfing in the ocean of information.

Hyperlinks should be used lightly, there is no need to hyperlink every word a particular author is using. Yes, references are important to validate the work being published - on the flip side, if the author is going to reference most of the work, what is the point of reading that particular author, might as well make a list and read all the others. I remember books full of footnotes, they were extremely thick and difficult to read at times - not because of the language or the material written, but because they were annotated to such a degree that the actual work by the author only covered a third of the page. Things like these are the ones that turn off a reader.

Links should be done to make navigating the Internet a simple task - if mentioning a site, make a link so that if the reader is interested he/she can visit the site. If using a complex concept, link the word to an explanation.
When using a hyperlink, the author should pick a specific reading that is relevant to that point. Although sometimes writers would like to cover all the bases and back-up what is being said with relevant information, there are writers that make literary reviews and compendiums of information. Hyperlinks should be directed to these sites, if what is being written is relevant, then there should be enough information out there to go and get it - not to make a hyperlink to the first thing that came up in a search just to have a reference.

Tools are meant to make a specific task easier for an individual, thus if the individual has to commence a Grail Quest for information, how is the tool being useful?

Hyperlinks and Education:

The tools that an educator uses to get a point across are as varied as the species alive on Earth. Sometimes, we choose to make co-relations that if not present in a discussion, there is no way another individual could reach that same point. Hyperlinks within presentations help achieve those connections without the educator having to “stop and discuss” or “stop and let me think” moments.

One aspect in which hyperlinks help education is in the incorporation of glossaries to presentations. While sometimes not useful in a class setting - because it takes you back to the “stop and...” situation - an educator can inform students that the definitions to particular concepts are hyperlinked. While a student is reviewing a class presentation, the option to review the meaning of a concept or the visualization/picture/graphic of that particular word is available by clicking on the link and taken into another slide designed by the educator. With the option of returning to the original point, the student now reviewed a concept without the need to make a particular search and taking attention away from the main document.

Hyperlinks also help students feed their curiosity. If a particular concept is of their interest, the student will click on the link that would take them into the Internet and from that point, open a world of possibilities to further their research. By linking specific words within a presentation, the student would be able to know that the material is available and at their disposition.

To link or not to link? That is the question:

It is really not a question if to make a hyperlink or not - when it comes down to it, hyperlinks are tools that facilitate the reading as well as the learning experience. They connect information without breaking the flow of the original intention. Make a link within a presentation without hesitating, but think what is being linked.

Hyperlinks serve a purpose and that is to help or direct the reader in a particular direction. If making a hyperlink, have the hyperlink be full of the information you want the reader to have in a precise and concise manner. Consider that hyperlinks in many cases are web-pages - some web-pages are full of images or adds and in some instances, may take a while to open. The time it takes to open a link is time that is wasted from one page to another, that is time that could be spent reading.

An author should be aware that in many cases, the attention of the reader is not a 100% invested in what their reading. No matter how interesting, if an article or presentation is full of hyperlinks in the first moments of the reader comes across it, that original article is put in the back burner. While surfing through the hyperlinks that were meant to be informational, the reader will focus on these instead of the original article. Rather than including hyperlinks every three or four words, captivate the reader, make him want to read the work that is presented to them and have them want to finish what they began to read, before they read the back story - if their interested, they will look for it themselves.