Yesterday I attended a seminar here at Wayne State University (opens new window) that was streamed from the University of Michigan (opens new window). The seminar was called “Coming to Terms: Understanding Folksonomy”. Thomas Vander Wal (opens new window), the speaker at the seminar, is often credited for coining the term "folksonomy". Folksonomy is closely related to Taxonomy. According to Wikipedia (opens new window) taxonomy is "the practice and science of classification". Folksonomy (opens new window), on the other hand, is classification, more specifically tagging, applied by the general populous. Thomas Vander Wal said social tagging is simple data applied to an object by the general population which is then made available publicly.

Social tagging is gaining popularity on the internet. Sites such as Del.icio.us (opens new window) and Ma.gnolia.com (opens new window) allow people to create accounts and tag anything with a URI. Users can return to the site and search for keywords they might have applied to a URI they saved any time in the past. Users are able to easily re-find information that they have tagged on their account. These sites also allow users to search through items tagged by the rest of the user base which creates micro communities of like-minded people.

Re-findability is the key concept behind tagging. Allowing a user to remember the information or object that they tagged in a way that best suits them is the key to a successful tagging project. Thomas said the less time users spend thinking about their tags the more likely they are to find the tagged object again in the future. Community is also important when tagging goes social. Allowing people to search through other peoples’ tags will lead them to new information that will likely also interest them. Social tagging also helps bring like-minded people together through similar tagging trends. This can be applied in many ways; in a business environment (opens new window) it might be used to form the best possible groups of people to work on a project, or on a dating site (opens new window) it could be used to unite couples with similar interests.

Social tagging can also lead to insight about the public opinion of your product or site. Thomas said people often apply tags based on inferred meaning of the object. Tags with inferred meaning are just as important as tags with categorical meaning. Such tags will allow a company to see what people are actually thinking about the object being tagged as well as allowing the customer to easily re-find that item in the future. Thomas believes "Every tag is sacred"; even the negative tags should not be deleted. Data mining on tags can lead to a deeper understanding of the item and how the public perceives it. Knowing that the public has a negative view of something will allow a business to fix the problem rather than ignore it.

The ability to link things together through the co-occurrence of tags can be extremely useful. If the same tag shows up on two objects they are thought to be related in some way. When objects have several tags applied by several people it becomes easier to define accurate relationships between objects. Many ecommerce sites use this approach to display a list of other items to a customer that might also interest them and will hopefully generate additional sales. Most sites currently use tags applied by the company rather than allowing the public to socially tag the items they are selling. However, Amazon.com (opens new window) does allows the public to tag and comment on the various products sold on the site. This is arguably one of the many features Amazon.com has implemented that contribute to their ongoing success (opens new window).

Social tagging is a trend that is gaining in popularity and implementation which is good for everyone. People can bookmark in a way that's easier for them to re-find the site. Customers can find what they’re looking for faster. Businesses will generate more sales because customers can easily find what they’re looking for. And social tagging creates the feel of community which allows people to connect in new and interesting ways.