Social Bookmarking: Making the Web Work for You

This review of the bookmarking tool diigo shows how social bookmarking can help you read, organize, and share things you read on the web. I'll show you how to sign up and start using it, then give you a tour of some of the social features.

This video is available for anyone to use under this Creative Commons License:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

To find more information about the photos I've used, please visit:
http://socialnetworkinstruction.googlepages.com/socialbookmarking

What is this talking about?

How social can a bookmark be?

Well, we all know what bookmarks are

so let's think about them first

and go back to the social part later

bookmarks are things you stick in books to mark your place

sometimes they are designed for that purpose

sometimes they aren't

but how do you mark your place

when you are reading on line?

the easiest way to bookmark a website

is to save it to your favourites folder

in your internet browser,

but how many sites can you keep track of

that way

if you start getting folders to organise your favourites

you may still loose track of things

when they get too full

or you can't remember where you put them

pretty soon you still have an endless list

piling up, overwhelming your structure

so let's take a step back from websites

and think about reading books

do you have a strategy

that helps you focus and remember

as you read a book

do you use a highlighter,

a post-it?

do you write notes in the margins?

or make flashcards?

for many people, it's easier

to read and remember things

if you can interact with the text in some way

Using Diigo, you can actually use these techniques

as you read the web

Diigo is a social bookmarking tool

that works on most websites,

but it doesn't require that you change the programs

that you use to access the Internet

all you need to do is install a toolbar into the browser you're already using.

The toolbar will add buttons at the top of your screen

that make it easier to read, organize

and share the websites you look at.

Let me show you how.

How does Diigo make it easier to read the internet?

Well, when you have the Diigo toolbar installed,

you can use tools like a highlighter or post-it comments on top of the web.

It's easy to send notes to yourself (?1:36)

So when you come back again, you can see exactly what you were looking at before.

How does it make it easier to organize?

Instead of saving a link to a folder, you can save it to a list,

then add some search words called tags.

They will help you find it later.

Saving our bookmarks with Diigo saves it to your favorites and to your account online.

So you can find your bookmarks any time you're on the internet.

How does Diigo help you share information?

Well, if you take a moment to upload your contacts to Diigo,

you'll automatically be able to e-mail anyone

without opening any other programs.

All you do is click on "Send", type in their name,

adjust the e-mail as you want, and off it goes.

You can even attach the comments and quotes that you've highlighted.

"OK, this looks simple enough.

"I'd like to start organizing, sharing and reading information this way.

"What do I have to do to get started?"

To start using Diigo, you need to go to their website www.diigo.com to create a login.

If you like the idea of sharing your bookmarks on the web,

using your real name will make it easier for people to find your bookmarks.

If you aren't sure how much information you want to share,

using a pseudonym will make it easier for you to stay anonymous.

We'll explain about the privacy settings in just a moment.

When your login is added, they will send you an e-mail back

to confirm that they have the right information.

Then you can click on that link and come back to install the toolbar.

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox or Flock as your internet browser,

you can install the full Diigo toolbar.

If you aren't allowed to install toolbars on your computer,

or using a different browser,

they have an alternative: a mini-toolbar gadget you can use instead, called Diigolet.

If you want to find these again later,

after you sign into the website using the login you've just created,

you can find the Tools menu under your name on the top right of the Diigo website. (3:21)

I would encourage you to take your time at this last step of the set up

adding profile

Some social websites require that everyone sign (3.28)