History of Affiliation

I first went online around 1995, started making web sites around a year later. At first affiliation was a real partnership. It was with a site on a similar subject with a webmaster that you trusted and exchanged help with - layouts, information, suggestions.

Then all these sites began cropping up done by seven-year-olds on sugar highs. I don't know how it happened but 'affiliate' came to mean pasting someone's button on your site and all it meant was a link exchange.

Obviously a few of us realized how horrible this trend was and 'sister sites' came into being. It was an attempt to revive the true meaning of affiliation as a partnership, but it failed. Family sites, so-called 'Partner' sites soon followed the trend of mere link-exchanges. Now Affiliation is little more than another way to advertise your site. How twisted are people's ideas of what a site 'affiliate' is? Well on one of my Lord of the Rings Awards sites someone sent me a series of flames because I wouldn't accept their site on Natalie Portman as an affiliate. For goodness sake, I wouldn't even accept a non-awards site as an affiliate. What does Natalie Portman have to do with Lord of the Rings?

How webmasters today define 'affiliate'
"A close friend or person who has a site you love."
"The linking together of sites by buttons/graphics."
"A button you click on to send you to another link"

Should the subject of the affiliate's site be similar?
(Shocking Results of a Survey I Took)
Doesn't have to be similar: 6
Vaguely similar maybe: 1
As long as it is a subject I like too: 2
Certainly not that is the whole point: 1

Official definitions of an affiliate?
(From various dictionaries)
"To become closely connected or associated."
"Entity effectively controlling or controlled by another or associated with others under common ownership."
"One that is united or associated with another or others in an activity or a sphere of common interest."
"One who associates with another, at least temporarily, in a common cause."
"Member of a confederacy, a league, or an alliance or sometimes a collaborator."
"An associate who works with others toward a common goal."

Conclusion
The situation about what people think affiliates are is a disaster. People need to start waking up to the fact they have no clue what they are doing with regards to this subject. Help stop the spread of this disease and treat affiliates on your sites as they aught be treated.

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