Tagged
Last week presented a number of noteworthy links for those interested in tagging and folksonomies and their growing influence.
CNN published an Associated Press piece on what is tagging and how it is being applied. Its an indicator of tags' in-roads into the mainstream and a fair overview, but I think the process is better explained through examples.
Those with a deep interest in following the latest discourse on tagging and folksonomies will want to note the launch of You're It! a group blog on tagging. Contributors include Clay Shirky, David Weinberger and Peter Merholz to name a few.
Elsewhere, The Six Apart's Professional Network weblog notes Web standards advocate and design guru Jeffery Zeldman's article on tag clouds. Zeldman tempers the exuberance for tagging with well thought points as to its appropriateness and potential misuse as a replacement to well-thought out structured navigation. Anil Dash notes that judicious use "will keep the technique as an effective way of presenting relevant information, instead of merely being used because it's possible."
We are quite enthusiastic about the technique and have contributed our part to Tagdom with the O'Reilly Radar project. We also agree with such rampant enthusiasm, is ripe for abuse. Tagging is not the answer for all uses -- categorization, navigation, interactivity, community and search. Its application must be judiciously applied and its appropriateness considered in order to be effective. Zeldman's article is the first of many article on this topic.
