Are link parties still a thing?

I used to blog pretty regularly back in 2009-2014. There were link parties galore then! I participated in a different link party every day of the week, found my favorites, and continued to join those parties weekly…Menu Plan Monday, Twisted Mix Tape Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Throwback Thursday…I know there were themes on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but I can’t remember what they were now. I met people through those parties that I still talk to via social media to this day.

Now that I’m at a point in my life where things aren’t quite so hectic with kids and such, I realized I miss writing and sharing. I started up a new blog on WP. (Well, it’s actually something I started back in 2019, but just couldn’t really find the time to be consistent with, so I’ve scrapped and rewritten about 4 times over the past 5 years or so.) I don’t have a niche in the blogosphere; I’ve always tended to just write whatever comes to mind.

I’ve posted every day so far this year. (Yes, I know we’re not even halfway through January…give me a break, here!) WP encouraged me to use Jetpack to manage my day-to-day, so I am. I’m not sure if the Prompts feature is WP or Jetpack, but it’s the closest thing to a link party I’ve found so far, but I miss those link parties! I did a few Google searches, but nothing more current than 2019 has been showing up.

Does anyone know if there are any current link parties out there? Does anyone even know what a link party is? Am I that old and out of touch? Is there something out there akin to a link party, but more hip? Did I really just say hip?! :woman_facepalming: Any help would (obviously) be welcome!

I remember “blog carnivals” and “blog rolls” back in the day. When blogs in a similar niche would link to each other. Those went away completely, although their descendants exist in the form of backlinks and guest posts these days.

@LillyGrace
Yes! ~sigh~ The good ol’ days, lol.

@LillyGrace
Lol I remember those! I had a massive Blog Roll on my blog and we all shared links and traffic…Le sigh…

They are definitely a thing of the past that’s discouraged in today’s blogging world. But you can still connect with other bloggers through niche blogging groups! I am in a pet blogging community where we connect, support one another, etc. It’s a great way to still feel that community feel without angering the SEO powers that be.

@ThreadMaster
Thank you! Clearly, I’m behind the times when it comes to blogging! :blush:

Dan said:
@ThreadMaster
Thank you! Clearly, I’m behind the times when it comes to blogging! :blush:

It’s constantly changing - even people who started 2 years ago may feel that way, so you’re definitely not alone on that!

I don’t know link parties, however if you are looking for Prompts, there is r/writingPrompts.

Mia said:
I don’t know link parties, however if you are looking for Prompts, there is r/writingPrompts.

Thank you for that! Much appreciated.

I’m starting to think link parties are like the dinosaurs, and I’m showing my age, lol!

@Dan
I have a dinosaur blog :slight_smile: mostly you want to link out to great relevant resources you find, but not be forced to do a link exchange to random stuff.

Asher said:
@Dan
I have a dinosaur blog :slight_smile: mostly you want to link out to great relevant resources you find, but not be forced to do a link exchange to random stuff.

A dinosaur blog! LOVE IT! I suppose mine can be classified as such too…though mine is just me writing, and I AM the dinosaur, lol.

Goo-goo g’joob. :smile:

No they’re not! Google penalized bloggers in one update for fake link schemes & link parties was one of the things targeted.

They’re not genuine links!

Masitsa said:
No they’re not! Google penalized bloggers in one update for fake link schemes & link parties was one of the things targeted.

They’re not genuine links!

That’s so sad! Most of the ones I participated in, back in the day, were real links to real posts. There were the occasional bogus links, of course, but people would happen upon them and report them, and whoever was hosting the party would then remove them.

It sucks when asshats ruin the fun for others. :pensive:

Thanks for your response!

@Dan
Depending on the niche you’re in, now there are roundup posts:

  • 25 best chicken dinner recipes
  • 5 crafts for kids during winter break
  • 15 plants you can grow indoors
  • 7 day trips from Madrid

Etc etc. There are usually Facebook groups for roundups and bloggers try to write these round-up posts based on topics that fit their blog but ask for other bloggers to share a link to their post.

@Masitsa
Thank you! I’ll look into that! :blush:

@Masitsa
Can you name some of these groups? I’m in one, but everything seems to be recipes, and my niche is travel. Not having any backlinks is killing me in the SERPs.

StevenMoore said:
@Masitsa
Can you name some of these groups? I’m in one, but everything seems to be recipes, and my niche is travel. Not having any backlinks is killing me in the SERPs.

I’m a food blogger, so I don’t know about groups outside of my niche but they must exist because I do see roundups in Pinterest & other platforms.

No, don’t participate in them. They’re not beneficial for SEO and can be actively harmful.

dominic said:
No, don’t participate in them. They’re not beneficial for SEO and can be actively harmful.

Honestly, I wouldn’t know SEO if it bit me in the ass, lol. But I appreciate your response! By ‘actively harmful,’ do you mean because of fake links?

@Dan
Because it can look like spam links and PBN type activity.

Get onto YouTube and start learning basic SEO. It’s still relevant and useful. Much more useful than bad links.