Blogging etiquette: the vacant trackback
In the past, it happened only rarely and I just ignored it. But now it happens a little more often. I refer here to "vacant trackbacks," the practicing of pinging a blog without making any reference to it in the entry from which the ping is sent.
This morning I followed a trackback to my post on Mississippi abortion clinics. But the entry to which the trackback took me makes no mention whatsoever of either my post or my blog. So why did the author ping? Beats me.
If you write something in response to what another blogger has written and you want to draw the other blogger's attention to your work, just send him an e-mail; don't send him a vacant trackback. Trackbacks are used to give credit where it's due or to expand discussion of a post. Accordingly, any time you send a trackback, your own entry should include a hyperlink to the post to which you're tracking back. Otherwise, there is no point in it.
I've already deleted this morning's vacant trackback, and henceforth that's what I'll do with any others I get. If you just want me to read your post, send an e-mail and ask. I'll be glad to do it.