A few weeks back, when the Psolenoid launched, I semi-wondered if there is any need for the trackback feature bloggers use.  The whole point was for blogs to cross-link to related posts, but somewhere along the way it because a method to spam individuals with information totally unrelated – usually linking back to something I wrote and someone stole! 

One intent of the trackback was to continue discussion on your posted topic, but that can be accomplished by having conversations in your comment section.  If one wanted, one could force anyone who wished to comment to do so by creating their own post and then trackback to the original. Yes, it would be a lot of effort on all parties involved but it would create an environment that would keep only dedicated individuals from being involved in the conversation.   

In the past I would use trackbacks are sources for other information, and at times, inspired me to blog about other topics.  With spam being such a large problem I really have a hard time seeing how the service is useful any longer.

Just thinking about loud once again…

I cannot stand spam, let alone trackback spam.  Hate it!  If your blog has any volume of traffic you have seen something like this in your “comments” section:

Really?  Like I am not going to figure out that your trackback has nothing to do with my original post, and that there is not information on “picturesofpregnancystages ”.   It seems that the trackback feature has become virtually useless for bloggers.  A new service, Psolenoid, is hoping to change that perception.

The pitch is that Psolenoid gives to potential users is that they:

help bloggers stay informed, connected and visible by interweaving and connecting topics in the blogosphere. Psolenoid also provides better visibility into the community and readership around your blog and allows users to create new memes and engage with pre-existing memes. As a hosted platform, Psolenoid by design is architected to prevent spammers from wiring posts to your blog.

Ok… so you are just providing a trackback service with a “sexier” interface.  I also get the feeling this service is dead on arrival and that the days of trackback are long since gone.