Tagging That Works
Thomas Vander Wal
Presented to: Web 2.0 Expo
San Francisco, California :: 16 April 2007
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What Is A Tag?
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What’s A Tag?
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Wutzatag?
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Tagging: Definition
Simple data/metadata externally applied to
❖
an object
Used for sorting
❖
A hook for aggregating
❖
Provides identifier and/or description
❖
Personal markers
❖
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History of Tagging
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The “F” Word
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Folksonomy
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Folksonomy: Definition
❖ Folksonomy is the result of personal free
tagging of pages and objects for one's own
retrieval
❖ The tagging is usually done in a social
environment (shared and open to others)
❖ The act of tagging is done by the person
consuming the information
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Folksonomy:Value
The value in this external tagging is derived
from people using their own vocabulary
and adding explicit meaning, which may
meaning
come from inferred understanding of the
information/object.
People are not so much categorizing, as
providing a means to connect items
(placing hooks) to provide their meaning in
their own understanding.
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“The beauty of tagging is that it taps
into an existing cognitive process without
adding much cognitive cost”
Rashmi Sinha
http://www.rashmisinha.com/archives/05_09/tagging-cognitive.html
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Every person is an
expert in their own
vocabulary (tags)
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Every Tag is Sacred
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Folksonomy Triad
Object Identity
Interest
Definition
Vocabulary
Metadata
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Dual Folksonomy Triad
Object Identity
Interest
Vocabulary
Culture
Definition
Terminology
Community Metadata
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Finding More Objects
Object 1 Identity Object 2
Metadata
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Folksonomy
vs.
Taxonomy
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Taxonomy vs. Folksonomy
Business Customer
Taxonomy Folksonomy
Product
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Taxonomy & Folksonomy
Taxonomy Folksonomy
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The Value of Tagging
for Business
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Business Tensions
Naming control People’s vocabulary
Sample groups Every perspective
In-house Outside service
$$$ w/ value $ w/ unknown value
Consistent Emergent
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Business Gains: Internet
Improved understanding of customers
❖
Current terminology (all of it)
❖
Market segmentations
❖
Target message to language, need & taste
❖
Ability to easily follow the customer
❖
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Business Gains: Intranet
Improve refindability
❖
Understand context
❖
Ease sharing of resources by perspective
❖
Cost effective means of building taxonomy
❖
Allow term use in and across silos
❖
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Understanding Scaling
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Cold-Start Problem
& Beyond
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Scaling and Functionality
A - Personal Use
D
B - Serendipity
C C - Social Tagging
Powerful
People Tagging
B
D - Mature System
A
Times Object is Tagged
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Phases of Interaction
Saving and tagging
❖
❖ Refinding
❖ Clicking, pivoting, exploring
❖ Searching
❖ One’s own tags
❖ Other’s tags
❖ Group
❖ Everybody
❖ Group Social Interaction
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Personal to Social
Social
Personal Serendipity Mature
Powerful
X X X X
Save & Tag
X X X X
Refind
X X X
Pivot & Explore
X X
Search
- X
Group Interaction
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So, Who Tags?
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As much as 28% of
Americans have tagged
Pew Internet Life Project: Report on Tagging
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/201/report_display.asp
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Daily 7% of people on
the Web in the U.S. tag
Pew Internet Life Project: Report on Tagging
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/201/report_display.asp
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Why do People Tag?
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Reasons People Tag
Their OWN use/value first
❖
❖ Add Perspective/Context
❖ Missing metadata
❖ Emergent Vocabulary
❖ Personal descriptors
❖ Refindability
❖ Aggregation of information
❖ Task-based aggregation
❖ State Interest
❖ Sociality
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Spheres of Sociality
Mob
Collective
Selective
Personal
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Social Context
Personal - Social -
Capture Share
❖ ❖
Hook/Copy Point
❖ ❖
Annotate Collaborate
❖ ❖
Refind Filter
❖ ❖
Privacy Trusted Groups
❖ ❖
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Shape of Tags
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Where Do People Tag?
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Tag Venues
Social Bookmarking del.icio.us, RawSugar, Ma.gnolia
❖
Flickr, Dabble, LastFM,Viddler
Media
❖
Amazon
Shopping
❖
Platial, Socialite
Geo-Location
❖
Steve.museum, Powerhouse
Museums
❖
IBM Dogear, Scuttle, ConnectBeam
Intranet
❖
Consumating
Dating
❖
Mac OSX Tiger & Microsoft Vista
OS (files)
❖
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Tag Venues
Wherever there is a
digital object or marker
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People Using
Tag Services
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Tag Services Offer
Tagging
❖
❖ Descriptions
❖ Feeds
❖ Interface
❖ Additional offerings
❖ Groups
❖ Favorites
❖ Rating
❖ Search
❖ Save page
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Interaction
Tags
❖
❖ Delimited combinations
❖ Comma
❖ Text box per tag term
❖ Space
❖ Quotes for compound words
❖ Suggested tags
❖ From own tags
❖ From other’s tags
❖ Automated from object content
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Interaction
Privacy
❖
Open to all
❖
Open to community
❖
Personal only
❖
Selective sharing
❖
By object tagged
❖
All posts to a Group
❖
Community tags
❖
Send to
❖
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Scanning
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Sociality
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Collective
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Selective
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Personal
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Filtering
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Clustering
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Tag Combinations
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Algorithms
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TagCloud
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TagClouds Best on
Granular Items
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Shopping
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Amazon
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Art of the Pivot
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Latest Activity
Reviews
Listmania!
Amazon Friends
Tags used
Products tagged

Easy Tagging
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Tag Yes/No
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What Is Going On?
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Improvements
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Value of Tagging
for Non-taggers
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Volatility of
Tagged Object
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Tethering Needed
When object is updated
❖
Corrected/Edited
❖
New Content
❖
Removed
❖
Similar items
❖
Archive access
❖
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Granular Social
Network
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Interoperability
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Tag Commons
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URL: http://infocloudsolutions.com
E-mail: thomas@infocloudsolutions.com
E-mail: thomas@vanderwal.net
AIM: vanderwal
InfoCloud Solutions, Inc. - 2007