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In the late nineties, I wrote a piece of software called InWeb, a web based knowledge management system. One of its key paradigms was the use of tagging, rather than the folder metaphor, for organizing content. Users maintained their own bookmarks and assigned tags (technically facets) and short descriptions in a way that any user of one of the current crop of social bookmarking systems like del.icio.us would immediately recognize. We added RSS feeds and all the rest. Users hated it. Over and over again, we got the same complaint, from people who I thought would know better: Where are the folders? So, it's with a complex mix of feelings that I've taken note of the distinct interest now being shown to tagging by nonprofit techies. In her notes for a talk that she'll be giving at Tag Camp, Marnie web explores Loosely Coupled Communities and the nptech Tag. It's well-linked, thoughtful, and poses many interesting questions.
Posted: 10/28/05; 6:52:52 PM # |