del.icio.us as Web 2.0 benchmark

Web 2.0 tools are being developed to help us to manage a vast ocean of choices. Before I review some of these tools let me encourage you not to feel overwhelmed. One defense for our overcommunicated minds is to ignore as much as possible and only deal with what we absolutely need to know. This is always an option, but it's not the best option. And it's not a viable option if you are engaged in the industry of marketing and communications. Besides, hidden deep in the long tail are things you might really enjoy, information you might find fascinating, knowledge that might improve your life, and even people you might not have ever otherwise met. So check out some of these tools, and discover how the long tail, however intimidating, can be your friend.


Perhaps the best example of Web 2.0 is del.icio.us. I'll spend most of this newsletter describing del.icio.us since it demonstrates all three criteria that make Web 2.0 sites what they are. The other sites I'll review differ mainly in the kinds of content they work with, but they all share - in one degree or another - these common traits.

At its core del.icio.us is simply an online bookmarking tool. Rather than using a browser's built-in "favorites" feature, favorite sites can be bookmarked on del.icio.us. There are three powerful distinctions between a browser's list and del.icio.us.

First, del.icio.us allows "tags" to be added to bookmarks. The use of tags is common to almost all Web 2.0 sites. Tags are single words used to describe and categorize content, in this case bookmarked pages. Personal tags as opposed to preconceived categories are a landmark trait of Web 2.0 sites.   next >