My Personal Tagging Conventions
So, the problem I have noticed with folksonomies in general is that you can't always remember what tags you used in the past. Some services try to ameliorate this by allowing you to choose from your previously used tags, but I propose creating a mental (It has to be mental or you might as well use the previously used tags list from before.) rubric for tagging. My rules for tagging are as follows: (More detailed discussion below.)
- Don't over-tag
- Use plural for nouns
- Avoid adjectives
- Use participles
- Decide early how to handle multi-word tags
- Don't Over-tag
I use as few tags as possible. This helps keep the tag clouds trim and reduces the number of possibilities when I am trying to recall something later.
- Use Plural for Nouns
For noun tags (as opposed to concepts or actions), I always use the plural. The reason I went with plural rather than singular is that it makes more sense. If I am looking for bookmarks that I created about cars I am interested in, the URL will look something like http://ma.gnolia.com/people/jxpx777/tags/cars. So, the URL more intuitively relates to the list of items belonging to the tag. This does not apply to proper nouns of course.
- Avoid Adjectives
Adjective tags don't tend to add a lot to the folksonomy of the tagged item. Of course, there are places where this might not hold true. For instance, if you tag IMDB movie pages, you might tag them with their genre and whether you think it was happy, sad, intense, whatever. But in general tags such as "funny" add less to the folksonomy of the entry than the nominal equivalent "humor."
- Use Participles
When I use a tag that involves action, I use the participle form, usually present participle. The reason I do this is to avoid the ambiguity of English simple verbs. For instance, if I find a page I want to bookmark with tips on writing blogs, then I will use the tag "blogging" to avoid the ambiguity of the word "blog," which could be either a noun or verb. The same ambiguity will rear its ugly head again and again. I have experimented with making up participles, too. For instance, when I find a page about playing guitar, I have used the tag "guitaring" but I am not sure it fulfills my desire for intuitiveness. (Thoughts about this are welcome.)
- Decide Early How to Handle Multi-Word Tags
If you use del.icio.us for bookmarks you know that multi-word tags are a no-no. On ma.gnolia, the delimiter is the comma, so multi-word tags are acceptable. You have to decide early how you will handle multi-word tags. Separate-words-with-dashes? CamelCase? Smooshedtogetherlikethis? Actual separate words? If you go with actual separate words, will you be able to live with the extra tags that are generated if your service doesn't support multi-word tags? This is something that is an individual decision, but one that will make your life easier the earlier you make a conscious choice about it.
Comments
Maybe it is of interest for you.
Regards,
Tobias Kowatsch