Giving Social Bookmarks A Second Shot
Author: Mitch Keeler
Now I can not tell you when, all I know is that it was a long time ago, I tried using del.icio.us and I was not really all that impressed. I did not see what all the fuss was about, and personally I thought it looked like it was more work than it was worth. Well, I have recently given it a second shot and I am happy to say that they might have me won over this time around.
The Firefox extension has gotten a lot nicer. That is probably the first thing that won me over. When I had first tried it out, the extension for Firefox was fairly new. Now it seems like they know what they are doing. I also like the fact that it is just two buttons and not a totally new toolbar. I don’t want more of my toolbar space to be taken up, I just want some extra functions here and there.
Another reason I like using del.icio.us is because it helps me find things that I have maybe saw, but did not want to bookmark. All I have to do is add it to my list, and I can visit it again in the past without having to go through the trouble of bookmarking it. It almost becomes a second tier bookmarking system for me.
The last thing I really have been enjoying is finding things I might have not of seen before. When you do as much technology article writing as I do, it is sometimes hard to find the next big thing to write about. The more you write, the harder it is to find something to inspire you. Searching the tags via del.icio.us is a cure for writer’s block – I can tell you that from experience.
So I guess the moral of the story is to not give up on new technology the first time around. Give it some time, and then visit it again. When you do, you might find out why everybody else around you fell in love with it in the first place.
December 13th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Great post Mitch!!! I love social bookmarking and it has its benefits like if your computer crashes you don’t lose all of your bookmarks.
December 13th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
Social book marking is exhausting.. I can totally see the results.. like the second I stumbled the blog.. mad hits came flooding in.. I guess this is where a large network with a MASSIVE list would have significant results.
July 29th, 2007 at 1:01 am
I don’t find it all that exhausting or painful. Mass uploading your bookmarks onto del.icio.us to start off is a breeze, then adding extra bookmarks is also a breeze with the Firefox extension.
I personally like it because, as Joe says, you’ll have your bookmarks if your computer crashes, but it’s also handy for just having access to all my bookmarks wherever I go.