“The Laws of the Jungle” was all about tagging, which allows you to assign a name to any page, post, photo, video, etc. to help you remember things your way. I understand the importance of tagging with the amount of information we have readily available to us these days. And since there is so much information, it’s clearly difficult to keep track of it all and organize it in ways that work for everyone. While Krug applauded the use of tabs, similar to folders, Weinberger says that folders are a disadvantage because an item can only go in one place. Tags are metadata that describe an item or piece of information, which allows individuals to find that item or piece of information when browsing or searching. Since anyone can assign a tag, there are many opportunities to find what you’re looking for.
When reading this chapter, the first thing that came to mind was Patrick’s reading posts. When we first began our blogs at the beginning of the semester, I wasn’t aware of the concept of tagging, and I was confused as to why he had so many things highlighted in his text, and a long list of random words in a column down the side of his post. I thought maybe Blogger was the one doing it, but then I realized my posts weren’t automatically being randomly tagged too (or what Blogger calls “labeled”). Now I realize that he uses tags to give people further information on what he is talking about or referencing, and also to help people find what they’re looking for easier and faster (and also because he “loves tagging”).
At the end of the chapter Weinberger lists four principles regarding the way we organize physical objects and ideas.
- Filter on the way out, not on the way in (don’t assume something is of no value right away).
- Put each leaf on as many branches as possible (makes something easier to find, more usable, and more profitable).
- Everything is metadata and everything can be a label (metadata is what you already know and data is what you’re trying to find out, makes sites easier to use, everything is connected).
- Give up control (users are in control instead of the owners of the information).
Other than Patrick's blog, popular websites that use tagging include Flickr and Twitter.
I'm an example! Awesome.
ReplyDeleteI tend to go a little overboard with my tagging, though, often adding one or two things ("undead philosophers", for instance) just for my own amusement. Do you feel that would be unnecessarily distracting if someone were trying to use my list of topics?
Props to Patrick who has reached example status!
ReplyDeleteTagging is quite useful...but what if I tagged a picture of someone else as myself on say Facebook. They could not remove it (at least not easily). What if I tagged a picture of Springtime in Georgia as a springtime in NY? Weinburger likes the idea of giving up control, but do you think there is any compromise involved?
Nice summary.
ReplyDelete