# Where does this link go? Can I suggest a new SDMB rule? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 26, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054 "2017-03-26T03:02:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/1 "2017-03-26T03:02:26Z")
I am really fed up with clicking on an otherwise innocent link, only to find that goes to either a youtube site or worse, a site with an auto-play vid. Most of the time it is merely annoying, but because I access the SDMB while I’m working (totally permissable) it can be a serious pain to close down a link super-quickly (noisy videos are NOT permissable). Can I suggest that whenever we post a link, we include a note as to whether it’s text only, a vid that needs clicking to activate or an auto vid? It would save many of us a lot of grief. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/2 "2017-03-26T03:13:03Z")
I think it’s a fine suggestion as a matter of courtesy, though hard to enforce by rule. When I mouse over in chrome, I see the actual address in the info bar at the bottom. I’ve seen that in other browsers too, is that an option for you? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/3 "2017-03-26T03:18:36Z")
Whenever I’m in a public place and I’m accessing pretty much anything, I turn the sound either off or way down. That’s probably good practice when you’re at work. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/4 "2017-03-26T03:19:51Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I think it’s a fine suggestion as a matter of courtesy, though hard to enforce by rule. When I mouse over in chrome, I see the actual address in the info bar at the bottom. I’ve seen that in other browsers too, is that an option for you? Not with quotes that have had the address replaced with (the equivalent of) ‘CHECK THIS OUT’. 😃 Many posters are kind enough to just leave the original address as the link, but just as many don’t. And for those links I get no address in the info bar. Oh well, ne’er mind. Worth a shot I guess 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/5 "2017-03-26T03:21:53Z")
I’m usually tempted to report those driveby “CHECK THIS OUT” links as clickbait spam, but that’d probably get me in more trouble than the other guy. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/6 "2017-03-26T03:24:05Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Not with quotes that have had the address replaced with (the equivalent of) ‘CHECK THIS OUT’. 😃 Many posters are kind enough to just leave the original address as the link, but just as many don’t. **And for those links I get no address in the info bar.** > > Oh well, ne’er mind. Worth a shot I guess 🙂 It should still show the address. Or hit the quote button, you can see the address in the text. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/7 "2017-03-26T03:26:16Z")
It seems to be an especially common occurrence in threads discussing music or movies to post a youtube link, with only the word “this”. Personally, I’d really appreciate being told what the song/movie/scene is, without having to watch a video. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/8 "2017-03-26T03:38:23Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Not with quotes that have had the address replaced with (the equivalent of) ‘CHECK THIS OUT’. 😃 Many posters are kind enough to just leave the original address as the link, but just as many don’t. And for those links I get no address in the info bar. > > Oh well, ne’er mind. Worth a shot I guess 🙂 Even if the link is replaced with text, if you mouseover without clicking (well me, at least), the actual link is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the browser. I don’t know what browser you are using, but if you search for “view url in status bar” it should show you what I’m trying to describe. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/9 "2017-03-26T03:48:02Z")
I’ll second **Twoflower**. It’s easy enough to mouseover and see that it’s a YouTube video, but there’s no way of knowing _which_ video without clicking it. Context is often useless for narrowing it down: For instance, if the thread is “What’s your favorite song?”, and the answer is YouTube link that says “this one”, well, it’s presumably a video of a song, but that’s still extremely broad. iMDB links suffer the same problem. Amazon links, however, do not, because Amazon URLs include the title of the item (or at least, an abridged version of it) as part of the URL. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/10 "2017-03-26T09:42:37Z")
I think it’s common courtesy to tell people the nature of the link, to warn if it’s NSFW and if it’s a video to add a short description (some people won’t click video links while working). Also if you’re using Flashblock or Noscript you should disable them and check the page you’re linking for autoplay videos, etc before posting; I’ve fallen foul of that myself when posting a link in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/11 "2017-03-26T09:54:50Z")
Don’t click the links. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/12 "2017-03-26T10:02:29Z")
Don’t click the links. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/13 "2017-03-26T10:10:56Z")
Can anyone please explain, for less savvy users such as myself, how seeing the address tells you everything you need to know about the link? Does every YouTube link mean its evil? Or not? What is the ‘tell’, you’re looking for exactly? Just so we can know too! ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/14 "2017-03-26T10:30:00Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Can anyone please explain, for less savvy users such as myself, how seeing the address tells you everything you need to know about the link? Does every YouTube link mean its evil? Or not? What is the ‘tell’, you’re looking for exactly? Just so we can know too! I don’t think anyone is saying that the address tells you everything you need to know but it does tell you exactly where you will be going if you click on it and that will at least give you advance warning of a video from YT. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/15 "2017-03-26T14:18:30Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Can anyone please explain, for less savvy users such as myself, how seeing the address tells you everything you need to know about the link? Does every YouTube link mean its evil? Or not? What is the ‘tell’, you’re looking for exactly? Just so we can know too! I like to know if a link goes to YouTube when I’m on my tablet, because the link will open the YouTube app, which I sometimes don’t want. But regardless of which browser I’m using, there are ways to see the URL. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/16 "2017-03-26T14:22:20Z")
I’m totally in favor of a rule that requires a brief description or some kind of obvious indication of what’s behind a link. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/17 "2017-03-26T19:26:30Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I don’t think anyone is saying that the address tells you everything you need to know but it does tell you exactly where you will be going if you click on it and that will at least give you advance warning of a video from YT. Except it doesn’t always. All too often instead of going to the address that shows in the mouseover, it goes to Vigilink first, which may or may not redirect it to the intended site. As frequently reported, sometimes a link to a product at an online store ends up going to a different store selling the same product. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/18 "2017-03-26T19:51:16Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’m totally in favor of a rule that requires a brief description or some kind of obvious indication of what’s behind a link. Don’t we already have one? > [@](#): > > (1) LINKS SHOULD BE DESCRIBED > When posting links, please be courteous to your fellow posters: describe what you are linking to. It does not have to be a lengthy description, but “See this political cartoon” is better than “This is funny!” > > If your link is primary to the topic when starting a thread, please explain not only what the link is, but why you are linking there. Don’t just post a link to a news story or video and expect people to start a conversation about it. > INCORRECT: “Ain’t this cool?” > CORRECT: “This looks like the coolest electronic cat-feeder ever!” [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7697028&postcount=9](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7697028&postcount=9) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/19 "2017-03-26T20:17:23Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Don’t we already have one? > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7697028&postcount=9](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7697028&postcount=9) That’s quite a bit short of what the OP is asking for, assuming that poser was supporting the OP. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054/20 "2017-03-26T20:45:19Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I like to know if a link goes to YouTube when I’m on my tablet, because the link will open the YouTube app, which I sometimes don’t want. But regardless of which browser I’m using, there are ways to see the URL. On my phone, if I touch a link and hold down on it, the url pops up. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-this-link-go-can-i-suggest-a-new-sdmb-rule/783054.md?page=2)