Social Bookmarking: Beneficial or A Waste of Time and Space

A folksonomy is a taxonomy of web content, such as web pages or web links, that is created by being categorized together under a label or tag defined by the creator of the taxonomy. The purpose of the tag is to make it easy for researchers to search and navigate through the World Wide Web by placing tagged information about a topic in one central location.

Folksonomies are very inexpensive because they are user generated. The intent of folksonomies is that a shared vocabulary could be created amongst the users. Tags allow viewers to identify the originator of the tag. The originator may use tags that are understandable to the researcher, thus, making his/her search easy. This would create a shared vocabulary. The user may find that the originators tags are very helpful and look through other categories of tags created by the originator. In a sense, a silent social network is created.

When dealing with folksonomies, the social bookmarking is mostly a disorganized arranged collection of individual preferences. It is only assumed that a shared vocabulary exists. In my opinion, the same type of research could be achieved using most search engines. The tag originator could easily mislead a researcher. Unless tags are specified by a teacher, employer, or within a social group setting, the tag is personal and does not represent anything concrete. A user could spend hours searching through tagged content and not find anything useful if the shared vocabulary is lacking.

I don’t want to insist that social bookmarking is a complete waste of time and space. There are practical uses for it. I created an account with del.icio.us. My badge is below. I tagged several sites with the label MSPTC. Each link is to a web site that discusses an element of professional and/or technical communication. The site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE provides a description and video clip on Web 2.0 and http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005/10/69114 also discusses Web 2.0. The http://www.digitaljournalist.org/ site discusses photojournalism. The sites http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/, http://www.search-this.com/2007/03/26/10-quick-tips-for-an-easier-css-life/ and http://www.guidancecom.com/alphabet/ define the essential elements of visual design. The site http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/ gives insight into statistical research methods. By tagging these sites I am able to help create a source for MSPTC students.

For professional and educational purposes, social bookmarking is very beneficial. Teachers and other professionals could tag useful information for their students or employees. This could also work vice-versa. In this case a shared vocabulary is in existence and all parties benefit.

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