Whenever I read an article on the web, I either click on the links in the article or search for more information about the topic, ending up very far from the original article. Is there a term for this act of jumping through links?
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Welcome to English Language and Usage,Arunster...words are used differently in different situations. Decades ago the very word "browse" had a somewhat negative flavor as to doing research. One might start with a specific source in a library, only to discover seemingly related material nearby and if the temptation was not avoided, one could be far off topic in quick order. I still think of "browsing the web" as a great risk to serious research. – J. Taylor Jan 10 '19 at 11:38
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This habit is known as mindless browsing. There is even a word for it:
Wilfing (Macmillan Dictionary):
The theory is that, even though we might go online with a specific purpose in mind, the potential choices and distractions are so many and varied that they cause us to lose track of what we were looking for. Shopping, travel and news websites are allegedly among the most likely to cause people to wilf.
Laurel
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Sumit Kumar
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2Short for: What was I looking for (Wwilf) https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wwilf – Mari-Lou A Jan 10 '19 at 13:45
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I think you can use the expression
to spend time visiting a lot of websites:
- He spends a lot of time surfing the internet/Net/Web.
(Cambridge Dictionary)
user 66974
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Surf the inter? I've heard "surf the net" but not the former. It's not the right answer anyway. If I want, I can surf on the web for two hours, absolutely focused, on one topic. The OP is talking about getting distracted and going down rabbit holes – Mari-Lou A Jan 10 '19 at 13:47
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@Mari-LouA - the OP is not clear about it. They cite both more research on the original topic and other unrelated stuff...in any case they surf.. – user 66974 Jan 10 '19 at 14:01