In the past, I had tried social bookmarking, but did not truly understand why everyone thought it was ‘amazing.’ I had tried to use StumbleUpon (http://www.stumbleupon.com/) and found it to be annoying as a Firefox plug-in, so I uninstalled it. So, as you can imagine, I went into the exploration of this subject a bit reluctantly. However, I have discovered some interesting uses for my students and, hopefully, myself as well. First, I discovered, in the past, there hasn’t been very good documentation concerning delicious and how to use it from its creators (Slacker, 2005). This could explain its delay in becoming a commonly used resource. However, Yahoo! Now owns delicious and information is becoming easier to access (http://blog.delicious.com/). To fill this void, information is being gathered and shared by avid researchers to help other understand its uses (Broitman, 2009).
Second, there is ‘no competing messages’ on it, it is advertising free, which I love (Bhargava, 2006). This means I can introduce it to students with out the fear of what will be on the right margin and whether it is appropriate or not.
Third, I’ve always been overwhelmed with so much information on the Internet. I bookmark all the ‘cool’ stuff I find, but then never had a chance to get back to explore it further so my bookmarking folder becomes, so full that it is, also, overwhelming. As I’ve begun exploring delicious, I’ve found it to make all the information less overwhelming. It makes thing manageable and ‘exploreable’ with the ‘tags.’ According to the authors of Slacker Manager (2005), you cant overdo bookmarking or tagging; they say just stick with it.
Fourth, businesses have been exploring the social bookmarking uses far longer than the general public has known about its existence. They have begun disseminating information to other and their clients, so that social bookmarking will continue to advance along with their research into this area of our lives (Bell, 2008).
Finally, after reviewing all this information, I still do not know everything that I feel that I need to know about it, but I do feel I understand it enough to embrace its use and to introduce it to my student. I see my students using it in their research project and to keep all their favorite games in one spot. At our school, we do not have one designated computer for each student. Delicious will help them access their bookmarks from any computer in the school as well as when they get home. Double work or double research will become a thing of the past. I see them loving and using delicious as soon as they learn about it.
References
Bell, J. (2008, April 17). How to use del.icio.us. Worldwide: 360 Digital Influence Ogilvy Public Relations. Retrieved from http://blog.ogilvypr.com/wp-content/uploads/howto_delicious.pdf
Bhargava, R. (2006, July 24). Why del.icio.us is our favourite PR tool. Message posted to Fresh Influence [360 Digital Influence Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide]: http://blog.ogilvypr.com/2006/07/why-delicious-is-our-favourite-pr-tool/
Broitman, R. (2009, June 2). Ultimate guide to delicious social bookmarking. Message posted to Interactive Insights Group: http://www.interactiveinsightsgroup.com/blog1/ultimate-guide-to-delicious-social-bookmarking/
Slacker Manager. (2005, December 12). The several habits of wildly successful del.icio.us users. Message posted to bizza.com: http://www.bizzia.com/slackermanager/the_several_hab/
"However, I have discovered some interesting uses for my students and, hopefully, myself as well....Finally, after reviewing all this information, I still do not know everything that I feel that I need to know about it, but I do feel I understand it enough to embrace its use and to introduce it to my students." Awesome post, Danni:)
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