So, if you wonder whether you’d care for the content of a note, you have to look at the note, switching to the bottom of the page and breaking your focus. Thus the notion that footnotes are optional is an illusion.
I agree with this. Too many footnotes can really slow readers down when they have to check each for whether it’s relevant.
Similar points apply to adding too many unnecessary links. Specifically links where it isn’t clear where they lead and what point is made in the link target, as in the previous sentence. (Do they provide a citation? Important additional explanation? Just an allusion to some related idea? So the same issue you point out for footnotes.) Like footnotes, many such links should probably be left out entirely, because they add too little value compared to the amount of reading disruption they add.
For other links, it should be made clear in the text what their purpose is or where they lead, unlike in the example sentence above. So that people can safely ignore them if they don’t need them.
Moreover, links to (e.g.) Wikipedia, which explain a simple concept, can often be sufficiently replaced with a short one line explanation inside the main text, perhaps in parentheses. This doesn’t require readers to engage with a whole new webpage which likely contains way more information than necessary.
I agree with this. Too many footnotes can really slow readers down when they have to check each for whether it’s relevant.
Similar points apply to adding too many unnecessary links. Specifically links where it isn’t clear where they lead and what point is made in the link target, as in the previous sentence. (Do they provide a citation? Important additional explanation? Just an allusion to some related idea? So the same issue you point out for footnotes.) Like footnotes, many such links should probably be left out entirely, because they add too little value compared to the amount of reading disruption they add.
For other links, it should be made clear in the text what their purpose is or where they lead, unlike in the example sentence above. So that people can safely ignore them if they don’t need them.
Moreover, links to (e.g.) Wikipedia, which explain a simple concept, can often be sufficiently replaced with a short one line explanation inside the main text, perhaps in parentheses. This doesn’t require readers to engage with a whole new webpage which likely contains way more information than necessary.