I actually think it’s an interesting idea. We’re prone to click on a lot of links while browsing a page, going down a rabbit hole, spending way too much time there and regretting it later. If we had to copy and paste every link (which is still very quick to do, it’s not as if we had to type the whole thing), would we end up having more control about our internet media consumption? Having to take three seconds to copy and paste the link in my address bar might make me reconsider whether I actually want to visit that page right now, instead of just doing it out of habit. I don’t know if that’s really part of the motivation for “text-only links”, and I don’t think I would make that choice for my website if I had one, but I still find it interesting.

And really, the lack of clickability is not a huge step back, just a small, minor one, considering how quick and reliable it is to copy and paste. It’s in no way comparable to printed media, where you’d have to manually copy the reference and then go look it up in a bookshop or library.

That said, I am concerned about how it may affect accessibility. I’m very ignorant about those things, but I suspect it would be a hassle for people using a screen reader?