SXSW 2006: Beyond Folksonomies

As the web evolves, contextual navigation is increasingly necessary. The top-down, authoritarian, Semantic Web approach is way too restrictive, and the bottom-up, free-love, rebelliousness of folksonomies is way too permissive. What's next? A compromise of extremes? A middle-out approach? Something completely different? Can GYM save us? Tune in to find out.

The Panelists

The people behind the table

The following folks shared their comments on, criticisms about and ideas for the future development of folksonomies

Mary Hodder: Napsterization
Liz Lawley: Mamamusings: Technology and academia
David Swedlow: Opposable Mind
J Wynia: "Web consultant, writer and geek"

The Examples Everyone Gives

What sites offer the best examples of folksonomies?

When people talk about folksonomies, the same case studies tend to pop up. Here are the most talked-about examples

Flickr: Photo sharing
Delicious: Socially organized bookmarks
Technorati: "Currently tracking 30.3 million sites and 2.1 billion links."

Reader Feedback

What think you?

Share your ideas and insights.

Other Sites Mentioned

Additional examples and resources

While these might not have a lot to do with tagging and folksonomies per se, these projects came up in the conversation

Attention Trust: "A non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the basic rights of attention owners"
Dabble: A closed video sharing community currently limited to 100 people

Relevant Reading

Where to start

These few pages and articles might be the best introductory points to the idea of folksonomies

Wikipedia: Folksonomy: The collaborative encyclopedic entry on collaborative efforts to organize information on the Internet.
Folksonomies Tap People Power: A Wired News article from Feb. 1, 2005
Folksonomies: A User-Driven Approach to Organizing Content: An early look at the implications for user interface engineers
Folksonomies: How About Metadata Ecologies?: Louis Rosenfeld on the downside of folksonomies