Folksonomies: A New Opportunity For Marketers

[Chris]

The following is an article written by Steve Rubel and appeared in his blog at MicroPersuasion.com (http://www.micropersuasion.com/)

One of the most important social media trends to watch this year is the increasing influence of tags, also known as folksonomies. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy), folksonomy is the collaborative categorization of user-generated content using simple tags. Folksonomies are wildly popular on Flickr (http://flickr.com/photos/tags/), a photo sharing site, and on del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/tag/), a social bookmark site. However, it doesn't end there.

Increasingly you will see many sites adopt tags to create more structure around user-generated content. Just this week, Technorati (http://www.technorati.com/) launched (http://www.technorati.com/help/tags.html) a tagging mechanism (http://www.technorati.com/tag/) for blogs. Here's their Apple tag (http://www.technorati.com/tag/Apple), for example. In the months ahead I bet we will see other sites - including open source news sites like OhMyNews (http://www.ohmynews.com/), mainstream news sites and even wikis - incorporating tag structures. For more on folksonomies, read Adam Mathes' terrific paper (http://www.adammathes.com/academic/computer-mediated-communication/folksonomies.html) on the subject.

Folksonomies present both a threat and an opportunity for marketers. Tags make it easy for consumers to share and discover user-generated content in the subjects they are passionate about. On the downside, I predict that this year at least one company will watch in horror as its top-secret, stealth product shows up on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/), thanks to the handiwork of an ambitious moblogger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moblog). And there will be little they can do but watch.

Although tags are far from perfect (they generate a lot of false/positives), you should nevertheless be using them to keep your finger on the pulse of the American public. Right now, at a minimum, you should be monitoring your company/brand tags on Flickr as well as your competitors' folksonomies. I wrote (http://www.micropersuasion.com/2005/01/tap_into_the_fl.html) about this last week. Jeremy Zawodny smartly advised (http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/003877.html) marketers to take in del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/) as well. Good advice.

Although it's natural to view folksonomies as insignificant or even a threat, they hold tremendous potential as well. For example, you can use them to get some early buzz going around your product/service before it officially debuts by planting links and/or photos (http://www.micropersuasion.com/2004/10/marketers_will_.html) on these sites. However, be careful. While some praise (http://www.apennyfor.com/movable_weblog/000576.html) this approach, others criticize it (http://weblog.basturea.com/index.php?id=P172). In addition, tags also make it easier to find your true customer evangelists.

Regardless of whether you view folksonomies as a threat or an opportunity, they are here to stay. I am going to be blogging about this topic throughout the year so I have created a new category on my blog and also set up a PubSub subscription (http://atom.pubsub.com/f1/90/31aa5f502f0c2f7086f10c417549.xml) as well.

[jawn_tech]

2 words: cutting edge.

Thanks as always Chris. Much to take in and quickly get a jump on.

[jay-jay]

Explain why these sites won't become the next spam link farms? It seems to me that these sites are far too easy for a marketer to manipulate and the search engine companies will quickly adjust for this.

[webgurl]

Although tags are far from perfect (they generate a lot of false/positives), you should nevertheless be using them to keep your finger on the pulse of the American public.

Goleeeee . . . .

and I thought the web could be seen world-wide! Looks like the rest of us have not got our finger on the pulse!

[tpdotcom]

I might be cynical, but I had a quick look at the Technorati site and left wondering "some people must have really BORING lives".

I'm sorry, but I spend an average of 10 hours per day on the computer for work and I just don't get this sort of 'fad'. Go out and do some exercise, make love, do something - get away from your computer.

This is just another sad indication of the direction of society in general.

Maybe marketers shouldn't take any notice and just keep doing what they're doing - it may NOT be an accurate reflection of the American Public. There again I'm not american, so it might be.... :(

[espectations]

It is the first I hear about this and need to study the whole topic first, then test it to see if it makes a difference.

Anyway, will be looking into it but my first inclination is to agree with the comment about link farms - anybody have an idea why it would not be seen the same as link farms?

[MeanSEO]

Great article.

I guess the programmer in me sees the huge potential for abuse but this when used right can be a huge step forward toward more “community” on any given site. This can really increase a sites stickiness and update its relevance on a daily or even hourly basis.

I guess we have to take the bad with the good.

Keep up the good work!

[jawn_tech]

This can really increase a sites stickiness and update its relevance on a daily or even hourly basis.
I was thinking along similar lines.