Tip #3540 - Social Bookmarking
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Q:
What can you tell me about social bookmarking?
A:
Well, a lot actually! I know most of you have probably heard of bookmarking
and some of you probably know what I'm talking about when I say social
networking, but what about social bookmarking? Do those three things even
have anything to do with each other? The answer to that is yes and no.
Allow me to explain.
When you bookmark
a Web site, you're pretty much adding it to your Favorites list (in your
Web browser) so you'll be able to find it easier and faster the next time
you want to visit it. That way, you don't have to take up so much time
finding it again in the wide world of the Web. Now, I'm willing to guess
that most of you bookmark a lot of Web sites on a regular basis. Am I
right? So, once you have all those sites compiled, what are you going
to do with them? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to share them with other
people who may have the same interests as you?
Well, that's where
social bookmarking comes into play. It allows you to share your bookmarks
with other Internet users in a collaborative sort of way. Usually, social
bookmarking takes place on sites where the users can create an account
to add their bookmarks to. It's also helpful to do it on sites that allow
you to insert keywords for the types of bookmarks you add. That way, they
all can be organized and set into categories that other users can easily
search through.
Social bookmarking
gives you the chance to see all of the Web sites you may have missed thus
far. By seeing what other users submit in certain categories, you can
view the ones that fit your interests the best. You won't have to waste
your time looking at other sites that don't interest you either. Also,
by being able to see all the sites that other people add, you can start
to accumulate a whole slew of new resources. It's all so helpful and you
certainly can't complain about any of that!
Once you become a
part of a social bookmarking site, you become a member of that community.
You and all the other users are there for the same thing and you can help
each other out in finding sites that will benefit all of you. It also
makes searching the Web so much easier and quicker. Another great thing
is that once you're part of a site, you can access it from any computer
and any browser. That way, you're never limited in seeing the social bookmarks
you've been waiting for.
Now, you're probably
wondering how you can get started. There are a few social bookmarking
sites online today, with one of the most popular being del.icio.us.
You can create your own account there and once you're all set up, you
can search by keywords to find other bookmarks that may interest you.
This site also has lists for the "Popular" and "Recent"
categories, so you can dive right into your searching. You can find bookmarks
for all types of things on here too. From software to design to photography
to shopping, it's all here.
Another great social
bookmarking site is digg.com. We've
told you about this one before in our newsletter and you can read here
for some basic information about it. Digg is mostly geared toward technology
and science, but if you're into that, it will be perfect for you. You
can leave comments (diggs) on this site as well, which makes it all a
little more interesting. One more popular social bookmarking site is reddit.com.
It is a great source for up and coming online content. Reddit also has
a very unique and easy voting system. Other social bookmarking sites that
may be worth a look are Furl, StumbleUpon and Slashdot.
Now, of course, there
are always pros and cons to everything and social bookmarking is no exception.
If social bookmarking is going to work properly, it takes a lot of organization
to make sure all of the information is divided up correctly and is relevant.
Sometimes, the sites fall short of that and it can make your research
a lot more difficult. On the other hand, these sites allow users to gain
a bigger knowledge base, all while helping others do the same thing. Social
bookmarking is a feel good type of thing and if done right, it can benefit
a lot of people.
Check it out!
~ Erin
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