Fast forward nine months and I no longer organize my online life around the social bookmarking sites of Digg and Reddit.
I continue to use Delicious to bookmark web pages as an alternative to storing items in my computer browser folders. I have over 1,000 items that are appropriately tagged for easy reference, such as the below screen shot:
(Click it to zoom.)
You see how the first bookmark is referenced by the number 295 in the right column? That indicates I am one of 295 people who bookmarked that article. If I wanted, which I rarely do, I could click that number and view the usernames of other people who also bookmarked the article.
The idea behind clicking those numbers is I could potentially run benchmarks comparing articles that John, Mary, and I bookmark together; and assume that if we all liked one, then I might like other bookmarks of theirs–and they might like mine. Hence, social bookmarking.
But, I rarely do that. I’m using Delicious for bookmarking but not social bookmarking. This is a key difference–because it helps explain why I’m not using my Digg or Reddit accounts either.
When you consider I frequently recommend content on Twitter and FriendFeed, I don’t see the point in sharing the same content on Digg and Reddit (and countless other social bookmarking sites, such as Sphinn, Furl, Mixx, and StumbleUpon).
With the rise of “Tweet Me” plugins on most of the blogs–and news sites–I visit, I wonder how you view social bookmarking. Maybe I should give Digg and its ilk a second chance? Or, is Twitter the new social bookmarking site?
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Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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Integrating social bookmarking with search is the future. SearchWiki is a good example of that. It currently lacks social features, but it’s only a matter of time before Google starts implementing them. We developed Stumpedia.com based on that vision.
Say that again? You developed something in the hopes you’ll get bought by Google?
The only reason I use Delicious is so I can access my bookmarks from anywhere in the world. Sometimes the internet can become “information overload” so I try to keep it simple. Facebook, Twitter, My Blog and Delicious. Easy.
Jeremy McMinn´s last blog post..Chiropractic Extravaganza Majorca
Approximately how many Delicious bookmarks do you have? Do you filter through them and toss things when/if you don’t need or want them anymore? Or do you take the stance that once you bookmark something, it stays?
At last count, 16 bookmarks. Why so little? As above I said I like to keep things simple, and in my “non-virtual” life I also like to keep things simple and uncluttered so have a rule, If I have an item that I haven’t used for the past year whether it be clothing, piece of technology, book etc, I will give it away to someone that can use it. The same with my bookmarks. If I haven’t visited it in a year, I probably won’t ever again. Cue the delete button.
Jeremy McMinn´s last blog post..Chiropractic Extravaganza Majorca
I only use Twitter to recommend good content because I simply don’t have time for the rest! A bit of LinkedIn, maybe, but come on – we’ve got jobs to do!
John Bottom´s last blog post..Let your people go: the great social media in the workplace debate
I always found that it pays off better when you actually take part in thebookmarking community. There are so many that just blatantly spam that is destroys all the fun for everyone else…
You could give it another go just use digg for different kinds of content instead of bookmarking the same stuff..
James
Fortunately, Digg has a very specific user base that will always follow it, since it was the first big player to come along in its area. My best guess is that most of the generic, non-niche social bookmarking sites that are “gently” used (e.g. Sphinn, Mixx, etc.) will die off in 5-10 years, or be bought by the bigger guys. Niche sites like Design Bump & Design Float may stick around, or may merge, but they will also still have a space, albeit a much smaller one.
It’s brand loyalty, and everything that comes with it, just on the Internet.
You may not Digg, but others will. But I understand that’s not your point. The general public will never Digg, unless it becomes ubiquitous enough that they open it up to non-member users as well. Open platforms work for nerds because it satisfies their penchant for things that aren’t run by “the man.” Open platforms work for everyone else, the general public, because they don’t know jack about computers and just “want things to work.” Realistically, what this means is that Digg would crush all its opponents if it allowed people to just mash a “Like” or “Digg” button on any site without being redirected to the Digg page for the site, or having to log in. Anything that’s more than a 1-step process for the general public is too much. Of course, I’m implying here that companies (same with websites) truly win when they get adopted by the general public on a ubiquitous level, in the sense that they dominate their industry so heavily it makes it near impossible for competitors to come along.
Hi Tyler,
Very informative post there and right on the spot… I use digg but not as often as most I guess. I know one main reason some use it is because digg will get you indexed in google within 30 mminutes or less…
Thanks for the informative post
James
I use Delicious more for personal use than for social use. Certainly, I hope that if someone finds my Delicious bookmarks, they will find something useful. But I organize articles there for future reference, action item plans, etc.
~ Kristi
Kikolani´s last blog post..25 Social Bookmarking & Link Sharing Browser Bookmarklets
I use Social Bookmarking sites for bookmarking rather than the social aspect also. That’s probably why I haven’t gotten involved with Twitter. I have not seen the benefit of spending time in my day “twittering” about my errands and lunch plans.
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