I am one of those optimists that still sometimes reads reciprocal link emails in the hope that I see a spark of originality. I don't ask much, only a few details such as where do you want the link, anchor text and description. It's not much to ask, is it? Rarely, I get an email where someone has actually visited my site, noted the page to which I should add their link and provided the required details. Those clever people have a chance of getting a link and get this (whispers and draws you in closer); it isn't always necessary for it to be reciprocal. There, I've said it. I don't always need a link back! If it fits with the site, I sometimes give (gasp) a one-way link! Yes, really, I sometimes link to another site without requiring they link back to me. Makes a person feel all dirty, doesn't it? Like some sort of link-slut. I loathe the requests to link that go along the lines of "Link to us because we have linked to you and if you don't, we'll take the link down!" or "Linking is important because ..." Usually, they get added to the junk mail list and that's that. Any further link requests get as far as my junk folder and will never get read. The following is the type of crap that guarantees you get added to my junk mail and not my link pages:
I think you have to see linking from a wider perspective, most companies and many individuals don't have the resources to send out personalised requests for links. They could devote some of their resources to it of course, ie. they could devote some of their working day to it if they're in business on their own, or they could pay someone else to do it, if they're a medium\large company. But perhaps they don't feel that this worthwhile, or perhaps they don't want to pay someone to do it. Why should they think in any other way? The web is mostly impersonal and automated so why shouldn't linking be impersonal and automated? I think you're too being too idealistic by expecting personal contact with real people. I must admit that I'm being deliberately provocative here, that I'm trying to provoke a different point from yourself or from someone else on the forum. That's fine, that's what forums are for. But I would like to add that I think that the Web should be more personal, that it should involve more contact between real people.