Link Rot

"Link rot" comes from computerese and refers to the process by which links on a website stop working over time as their sponsors go out of business, change their business focus, disappear, or suffer the thousand other slings and arrows websites fall heir to.

It happens to my cable box sometimes. My cable sometimes just stops working. I disconnect and then reconnect it and, PRESTO CHANGE-O, up it comes again.

Sometimes my printer stops working because the connection "got stale." It happens. Same thing. I disconnect it and reconnect it and it works.

"Link rot" also undermines my professional network. It happens as people move, change jobs, get older, alter their lives, have kids, divorce and remarry, die even. I've had that latter thing happen more than once, but I'm in that demographic group that is closest to my date of mortality. More on that later.

I try to avoid this by keeping in constant contact with all my contacts. I haven't done so good lately as I've done a couple of pivots. But if I can't do it with a phone call I at least try to connect with them by email so they remember who I am. It's tough because I have a lot of contacts which means I have to be constantly driven to do it and have to strategize about who to keep closest in contact.

I try to avoid link rot whenever possible.