Del.icio.us is a collection of bookmarks. My bookmarks but also the bookmarks from all other del.icio.us users. It's a social bookmarking site. I've been using del.icio.us for some time now and I love it. No need to synchronize my "Favorites" folders between computers and with tagging it's a lot easier to find my bookmarks back.
It still amazes me how few people around me are actually using this social web. Some of them are subscribed to my del.icio.us rss-feed while others have an account but don't use it.
Time to explain some of the features of this social web site.
Consuming
There are several ways to dive into this big collection of bookmarks.
Participating
To access the full potential you have to register (free). The features you have as a registered user:
- your favorites
Add your own bookmarks or import them from either Internet Explorer or Firefox. Don't forget to put tags on your bookmarks. Otherwise you can only look them up chronologically.
When you add your own tags try to be consistent with the names you use. You can allways use the suggested tags.
To add the bookmarks from your browser there are several options. The bookmarklets work for all browsers but I suggest you go for the Internet Explorer buttons or the Firefox extension because they offer a much better user experience.
bookmarklets
Internet Explorer buttons
Internet Explorer "Bookmark this" button
Internet Explorer dialog after clicking the "Bookmark this" button.
- your network
This connects you to other del.icio.us users. Friends, family or colleagues. When you add a bookmark you can send them the bookmark by adding a special tag (for:[co-worker]). The bookmark will then show up in the "links for you" page of [co-worker].
- subscriptions
If you are interested in bookmarks tagged with a special tag then you can subscribe to this tag.
- links for you
This page shows you the bookmarks send to you by other del.icio.us users in your network.
I hope this post activates some of those sleeping accounts around me and will inspire others to create their own account.
Tags
A tag is simply a word you use to describe a bookmark. Unlike folders, you make up tags when you need them and you can use as many as you like. The result is a better way to organize your bookmarks and a great way to discover interesting things on the Web.