I am not sure when Dan Thies wrote this page (there is a copyright at the bottom that says 2002!) but the message is as important now as it has ever been before.
If you are still doing reciprocal link exchanges, I have a better way for you to spend your time. Get a needle and slowly insert it into your hand until it comes out the other side. Repeat 1000 times.
You will find this infinitely more enjoyable than the thankless, result-less reciprocal linking you’ve been doing.
OR
Get with the times and do [tag]trackbacks[/tag], social bookmarking, social networking, and content swaps.
And don’t let me catch you asking for [tag]reciprocal links[/tag] again!