Social Networking Articles Blog

Social Bookmarking FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about Social Bookmarking

Answers to some of the FAQ about social bookmarking that you might have on your mind:

(Q) What is social bookmarking?

[A] Social bookmarking is a user-based online system in which individuals tag their favorite web content and store it in one place, sharing it with others.

(Q) When did social bookmarking start?

[A] Social bookmakring began in crude form in the late 1990’s. It then fell out of favor online due to changes in the web. It came back in 2005 and has been getting increasingly popular ever since.

(Q) What are the best social bookmarking sites?

[A] That depends on the content that you have, the tone that you use and the way that you network on the sites. Some of the most popular sites include Digg, del.icio.us, Furl, and Stumble Upon but many other sites are popular as well. Flickr is a site currently popular for social bookmarking of images. Check out the full list here.

(Q) How do social bookmarking tags work?

[A] Users can tag their favorite sites with different keywords which help them to organize the content. So they might have “music” as one category for all sites that are related to that. In recent years, tags have gotten more involved because they are used to help others find your content and to help search engines see your content. Choosing the right tags can help drive content to your site.

(Q) Can anyone do social bookmarking?

[A] Yes, but you need to spend some time to learn how to do it right if you’re doing it for business purposes. There is etiquette on the social bookmarking sites that you can only pick up on by spending time there and seeing how people interact and promote content.

(Q) Is social bookmarking just a fad?

[A] Social bookmarking is a new trend. In its current form, it may be a fad and we may see that many of the new sites that are cropping up only last a short time. But the general idea of what social bookmarking is – the trend of user-driven content that spreads the word about products and supports business – is probably here to stay.

(Q) Is social bookmarking really necessary or my business?

[A] If your business operates locally in a small area and you don’t want to grow out of that area, then you may not need social bookmarking. But for national businesses that operate primarily on the web, social bookmarking is a key tool. It drives traffic to your website, increases attention to your services and products and helps spread the word about your business. It puts you higher on search engines and lets people know that you’re there to meet their needs. And it’s what consumers want right now; so give it to them!

(Q) How do I get started with social bookmarking?

[A] Learning about it is the first step. Read blogs, articles and books about the topic. Then start playing around on the sites. See which ones you like, which ones make sense to you, which ones are popular among the readers of your site and then develop your own method of using social bookmarking tools to work for you.

(Q) Can You Set Up Social Bookmarking Services for Collective Projects?

[A] Yes. In an article called Social Bookmarking in Education, the author speaks of such a project. She speaks of a teacher who set up a group account on del.icio.us for her Digital Libraries class. Groups can use these services for collective projects. Either a group account can be established, with the password passed around to the group or, in what is probably a safer and more useful version, a group can establish a unique tag and tag all group-related links with it. This is a great way to set up a groups’ set of links and there is a possibility that this class could get people from all over the country contributing to their class reading list!

Please ask questions that you have and I will answer your questions and add them to the list in this faq.

Technorati Tags: social bookmarking faqs, social bookmarking questions, how to use social bookmarking sites, social bookmarking, social bookmarks, tags, tags faqs, tag questions, bookmark questions, social networking faqs