Del.icio.us

For this assignment, we needed to view a 12 minute tutorial on del.icio.us and then take a look around (using the sachblog account that was created for this purpose). As with some of the previous assignments, I found this one a bit confusing.
From the tutorial and my del.icio.us exploration, I learned that del.icio.us allows you to bookmark a web page and then add tags to categorize them. You bookmark something you will want to use again someday. The analogy I created for myself to understand this concept is: I am reading a cookbook, and I find a recipe I like, so I fold the page over (don't worry it's my own book :) ) or I stick a post it on the page. I then write "dessert" on the post it. Dessert would be the tag. I tag it knowing I will want to use this recipe someday. My "tag" in my recipe book is private, it's my book. But, if I was on del.icio.us, it is social bookmarking and anyone can see it.
When exploring with the sachblog account, I discovered that articles were on the left of the page (these were the articles that were tagged) and the actually tags (words) were listed on the right. I liked how it let you know how many people tagged the article. Could definitely see the potential use of tagging. Reminds me of a very unstructured type of cataloging. Can see the use in the academic world, best suited for those who work intensively with computers. Was not up for the challenge of creating my own account. I feel like I have created so many accounts as it is that I will probably never use again.