Google just redefined sharing in a very powerful. It's called text fragment linking, and it works really well for a first time out of the box.
For me, it's like having a highlighter and sharing the copy of the page with others in color. With the text fragment linking extension added to my Chrome browser I simply highlight the section, click on it with the alt key, and then copy the link. Then I'll share the link with someone, and if they're using Chrome, or another browser that supports text fragment linking, they will be taken to the web page and right to where the text is being highlighted.
All the details are found on this Google post.
So why is this so important? For years people have been sharing links, but really, the important part that you want someone else to read is on the page. In the past you would copy the link, then go back and copy the content. With Text Fragment linking, that multi-step process is eliminated.
Here's are a few scenarios where this new function within the browser becomes super useful. Quotes. Commentary. Reviews.
Often, especially in sports or politics, or when anyone is interviewed, different news accounts will have different quotes pulled and used in a news article. Movie, book or music reviewers will often whip up memorable comments. Those reviewers may be in the same city, or now, around the globe. The comments they make in the past have been gathered up, compiled and you'll see them quoted. But often, pulled quotes don't tell the whole story. Now with the links available, the reader could easily go back to the source material, and see the context, not just the content.
As a wine lover, I enjoy reading wine reviews and notes on a winery, or a particular wine, and often will want to share the notes with others. Now, I'll be able to highlight just the one wine review from a page full of reviews, save that note in Keep, and do the same with other reviews of the same wine, winery, region, etc. Another use is restaurant round up. Many sites will have best of roundups, or recaps of various cuisines. As I'm reading through the write ups I'll often think, "gee, that's a restaurant I'd like to go to" or "if I go there, this menu item seems like something I'd like." With Text Fragment Linking I can not only recall the article, but the exact restaurant or menu item that caught my eye. But instead of cutting and pasting multiple times, I'll just highlight, copy and paste the link in my Google Keep or Apple Notepad. While I could do much of this in Evernote, this just feels easier, as it ties to the idea of a journal of links surrounded by my notes as opposed to a link to a page, and lots more explanation.
As someone who likes to use the information, and the facts, I find what Google has done super useful. Once Google gets around to indexing the highlighted and searched text fragments, we'll likely have a new search engine function available to us, on a personal, if not global user basis.
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