Socialbookmarking, tagging, socialmedia, web2.0, onlinereputation…
Feel free to disagree with me, but these would be the tags that I would use in Delicious to categorise this post. I may use something similar in Stumbleupon. I may even use the same tags within Wordpress to categorise this post locally. Tagging has changed the way we view bookmarks, and indeed change the way we use the internet. It allows us to select specific categories ourselves, developing a system which is in line with the way we think and, ultimately, clear enough to help others find the things you think they should.
The ‘tag’ was so named by Joshua Schachter, all around clever chap and creator of Delicious. Essentially, Joshua was dissatisfied with browser bookmarks and their lack of portability so while sipping on a cup of coffee one morning (or perhaps not), came up with an idea which soon started the wave of social bookmarking sites. In order for Delicious to work, the concept of tagging was born and it soon spread across the Web 2.0 landscape.
Why is tagging so important?
I defy any of you to deny that we are living in a time of information overload. It is hard enough trying to keep on top of everything as it is, let along getting to grips with being shoehorned into someone else’s classification system. The beauty of the humble tag is that the power of preference is given back to the individual. It is essentially a method of human generated search rather than algorithm generated search which we are so used to. With humans involved, things can be that much more relevant.
A VC points out how powerful a search tool Delicious can be, but the thing I found most interesting about this post was bonforte’s comment about halfway down the comments. He states that Delicious will generally produce better, clearer results for your search than Google or Yahoo! (which treat you like a tourist – a turn of phrase I like very much). The reason? Because the results come from the tags which have been attributed to the sites by human beings with interests similar to your own. In this world, SEO isn’t important, nor is keyword density. What is important is the content of the site and the relevance to the individual who has found it.
OK, I’m convinced it is important, but let’s be selfish for a moment. How does good tagging help me?
The answer is pretty simple.
- Tagging helps you to organise yourself – which in an information driven world is invaluable. Clear tags on posts in delicious, Stumbleupon etc. can facilitate easy retrieval of information which can speed up your blog writing, ensuring that the latest and best references are used, and ensuring that you spend your precious time on precisely the information you want.
- Tagging helps others to understand your method of organisation – which in turn makes it easier for people to find your recommendations. If I tag this post in Delicious with the above tags, anyone searching for socialbookmarking will find my post. Well…it’s not as simple as that. My post will be in the 6710 results which come up for socialbookmarking – and in order for it to be more popular, I will need to engage my community…which is a topic for tomorrow.
- Tagging makes your material that much easier to find and that much more accessible. And ultimately, what you want is people to come to you. So why not make it as easy as you can?
Tomorrow, we are going to talk about The Rise of Social Bookmarking: Knowing Your Community
Thank you to Matildaben for the image
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