every link costs something

Links, the internet kind, are easy to use. They are easy to find. They are easy to follow. They take us to information we never dreamed of. They help us learn and laugh and cry and have $2 million transferred to our bank account from Africa.

But they cost something.

I can tell you about a post I wrote about customer service this week, over at a great site called smallbizsurvival.com. You think, “If Jon wrote this, I can at least look at it.” But it will cost you. You will have to give attention. You will have to give time. You will run the risk of forgetting what you were going to do. You might get hungry. You might start thinking about your own customer service experiences.

I can tell you about a post I wrote about Hope helping a friend this week, over at a great site called gnmparents.com. You think, “this is another post about Jon and his kids. It will be sweet.” But it will cost you. It will cost you emotional energy as you think about Hope and then think about having kids or not having kids. It will cost you time. It will cost you focus.

I love reading. I love following your links. I’m honored when you follow mine. I know that there are horrible things people construct links to: things that are illegal, immoral, destructive.  I have internal and external filters for those. But there is this nagging little thing that I forget to bring to the front of my brain and then to my fingers.

“Am I willing to pay what this link will cost me?”