Social Bookmarking

I found chapter 7, ‘Social Bookmarking & Crowd-Sourcing’ to be very useful and easy to follow. The author of A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization, Deltina Hay presented instructions and images for the reader to better understand social bookmarking. In my Social Media for PR class, I have experienced the use of social bookmarking for the first time. To be honest, I was at first lost in the haze of Delicious.com but soon found myself catching on. The images and screen shots provided in chapter 7 offers an easy insight to Delicious.com. I can now officially say that I am no longer a victim of a cluttered bookmarks bar on the top of my browser. With the help of Delicious, I have been able to organize my bookmarks while gathering additional useful sources along the way. Needless to say, I am officially hooked.

For those of you who are not aware of Delicious.com, it is a social bookmarking site that allows you to publicly bookmark and connect with other individuals. Delicious allows users to bookmark their favorite sites and resources and to share that information with others. Likewise, you can view others’ bookmarks. In a way, Delicious creates a short cut in information finding and research. Thanks to the use of ‘tagging’, search time is cut in half and information can be found more easily.

In her chapter, Hay provides insight and tips on how to use social bookmarking sites such as Delicious. Hay points out that the social bookmarking and social web interaction “is about interacting, sharing, and collaboration—not self promotion” (182). It is important to remember the original reason and need for social bookmarking sites… to connect with individuals with similar interests and in turn receive useful resources.

Hay recommends that social bookmarking users “bookmark, tag, and comment on sites that interest you, and connect with others with similar interests” (182). Much like popular social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, the user must remain active in the network in order to receive results. Like any relationship, digital or personal, it is necessary to stay engaged in interactions in order to be successful.

Another tip Hay provides in the chapter is to “create a list of your best key terms to use as tags and use them as often as they apply to the sites you bookmark. Use your best tags within the descriptions you give each of your bookmarked sites as well” (183). By using thoughtful tags, it is easier for the user to recover saved bookmarks. Also, similar bookmark tags are great indicators of other users with common interests. When viewing another user’s bookmarked pages, it is useful to view their personal ‘tag bubble’ to get a sense of their interests and resources. A ‘tag bubble’ or ‘tag cloud’ is a list of tags found within your bookmark account. Each word you use to tag specific sites can be found in the ‘tag bubble’. The larger the word, the more prevalent the tag is in your account. It is also interesting to view your own ‘tag bubble’ to see which tags represent your content as a user.

So far, I have been very pleased with my interaction and discoveries on Delicious. While it took me a few tries to catch on, I have really developed an appreciation for social bookmarking. I have already started to build a network of individuals with my similar interests and have found sources I am not sure I would have otherwise. However, it is important to note that Delicious is one of the many site choices for participating in social bookmarking. Hay also recommends Technorati and StumbleUpon as additional social bookmarking resources.

Get started on Delicious at www.delicious.com
Also, you can Follow me on Delicious

For additional tips from Deltina Hay on social bookmarking click here