I will be working on reviewing the article I found on the BBC news Web site: "Tagging 'takes off for web users'"

- Lyndsey Rabon

While browsing through the BBC News, I found an article that highlights the importance of tagging online content. This “trend” is not only beneficial for businesses, but also the consumers, and casual internet users; it is the language-function they are engineering (without even being aware at times) to make online navigation more efficient. “The business of intelligently tagging content is seen as a crucial element for a next-stage, so-called “semantic web.”

This article introduces a few effects that stem from tagging information: social networking, new hierarchy, and vastness. David Weinberger expands what this article mentions; regarding tagging, in his book Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder. He is quoted in this article as saying “Tagging lets us organize the vastness of the web…using categories that matter to us as individuals. Tagging allows social groups to form around similarities of interest and points of view. If you’re using the same tags as I do, we probably share some deep commonalities.”

I found this article useful because I am currently learning what components are essential to constructing successful online public relations campaigns. It’s a great “starting place” to understanding what tagging is, where it’s going, and how it is making an impact on the way we organize and retrieve information effectively online. This article made me more aware how necessary crafting appropriate tags for online content is - for zeroing in on target audiences, finding others with similar interests (and having others find you), and getting information out there in a structured way that can be accessed with ease.

If you are interested in reading this article, the URL is below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6318531.stm

Lyndsey, Thanks for bringing this up. (Should I admit this?) I really don't get the whole Tagging thing. Can you (or someone) give a Dummies introduction?

I think Wikipedia has useful information on tags...

Here is the URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tags

Also, I suggest going to www.youtube.com (for a hands on approach)

Once there, type in a couple of words in the search box (i.e. pet tricks). Those words you typed in are tags/keywords that will take you to videos related to pet tricks. You can also see other tags the author of the video has included (i.e. dog, silly, letterman) to further describe the content they have put online. If you were to go back to the search box and type in "letterman, pet, tricks, dog" I am certain your search would yield a video clip from Letterman's Late Show that featured a pet trick performed by a dog.

Hope you found this missive useful.

Thanks, Lyndsey....
I'm still trying to tease apart the difference between "tags" and :"keywords." The only difference I see is that tags seem to stick to the post.

Reminds me of the restaurants that send out steaks with flags to label them "rare," "medium" or "well done." The difference is in the flags... not the steaks!

Sounds like a restaurant that also brings out Spam with a flag that says "steak."

Tag and keyword are synonymous. Label is another term that means the same thing. It's a matter of preference, like saying "soda" or "pop" (or how a lot of people in the South say "Coke")...tags, keywords, labels...its all the same, just called something different depending on the user).

Lyndsey,

Thanks for this very thoughtful post. You should mention the source of the BBC's article, a report on "Tagging" by Lee Rainie, founding Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project <http://www.pewinternet.org/>.

The Pew site contains a treasure trove of valuable data on how people use the Internet. Unlike other research firms, the Pew reports are free to the public. The Pew site is highly recommended as a top level resource for all Internet communications professionals.