The Social Bookmarking Frenzy

The Internet sphere is becoming crazy about social bookmarking. You can now bookmark your favorite web pages using your browser, your favorite RSS feed reader or using one of the huge list of online social bookmark services that have grown prodigiously all over the web. Here is a list which is probably even not complete:

A1-Webmarks, Aboogy, Backflip, BandBuzzer, BibSonomy , Blinklist , BlinkPro , BlogMarks , BlogMemes , Blue Dot , Blue Smiley Organizer , Bookmark Base , Bookmark Buddy , Bookmark Commando, Bookmark Magic , Bookmark Tracker , BookmarkSync , Bookmarx , Bookmax.net , BuddyMarks.com , CiteULike , ClickMarks, Clipmarks, Connectedy.com , de.lirio.us , del.icio.us , Diigo ,Dohat.com , EasyBM , fantacular, Favmark, Favoor.com , Finety , Frassle, Freelink.org , Furl , GlobusPort , Google Bookmarks, GUIcookies , Hotlist Anywhere , HydraLinks , Hyperlinkomatic , IC Soft, Inc. , iFaves , iKeepBookmarks.com, itList , Jots , Kaboodle , KMFavorites , Link2Mark , Linkroll , Links2Go , LiveFavorites , Lounge , Ma.gnolia , MarkaBoo , memFrag , MindDeposit , Mobleo , MURL , My Bookmark Manager , MyBookmarks, myFavorites Anywhere , myHq , MyLinkVault , MyWebDesktop , Netvouz , Newo17 , Online Bookmark Manager , openBM , PeerMark , Philippine Country Bookmarks ,Pluck Web Edition (PWE) , Powermarks , RawSugar , Save Your Links , Scuttle, Searchles , SearchFox , Shadows , Shoppersbase.com, Simpy , SiteBar , SiteJot, Smarking , Social Bookmarking , SportsLister.com , Spurl.net , Start Aid , StumbleUpon , SV Bookmark , Sync2It , Technorati , unalog , URLBlaze, Web Feeds , WhatLink.com -, Whitelinks , Wink , Wists , Womcat Bookmarks , World Wide Wisdom , wURLdBook , Yahoo! Bookmarks , yourMarks , Zoogim.com Online Bookmarks , Zurpy !!

Even Yahoo and Google have joined recently this list. Is there really a demand for these services ? I wrote a past article about the fact that these services where to my mind useless. The answer is surely yes there is a need but the solution to this demand is not yet the appropriate one.

The real issue behind that is the constant need for fresh content that one’s really interested in. This is something Google has failed to fulfill. Or maybe it did at first but Internet Users are becoming harder and harder to please. This need goes further than just typing a keyword. 1 or 3 keywords will never tell Google what you like and what you’re exactly looking for. This works well to find informative content, definitions or explanations. Google is a Wikipedia search engine. No more, no less.

In order to satisfy an Internet user request for fresh, subjective and interesting content you need to know details on its personality, on its life, on its opinions, on its way of thinking, on its passions, on its preferences, on its social rank, and so on. One result that is perfect for one person for the keyword “slavery” may be completely out of scope for the other.

That’s exactly the challenge that the semantic web will have to take over in the next years. Nowadays, Google is providing many services but is not using the inputs of the user to build a real complete portrait of him. You need to be able to explain robots who is the person that you’re trying to satisfy and adapt the results based on that.

Of course some nice services like Stumbleupon concentrates on one aspect of a person which is the websites he likes or not. Then this is compared to the other users data to provide you content that you should like. So here the user feeds the required information for other users. The service only crosses the information but does not go further (yet).

And this is not enough as you all know that every single person is unique. Bookmarking is not enough to border the personality of the user.

I’m quite confident is the fact that the next web 3 or 4.0 will evolve the right way and social bookmarking websites are only the first step.

Stumble it!