Week3

= ****Eight Weeks to Web 2.0**** ** - Week 3 **=

**Get a Del.icio.us Account**
Del.icio.us is a Social Bookmarking Web Resource. You're probably familiar with the concept of Bookmarking or Favourites within your browser. That's a great way to keep your web experiences organized. But, there are limitations. First, they are only available on the computer that you bookmarked them on originally. Secondly, they're available only to you. Thirdly, well we'll cover that shortly. Take a few minutes and watch the video.

OK, on to thirdly. It's a logical followup to number 2 and it's what the whole concept of social networking and Web 2.0 is all about. You've found and bookmarked all of these resources; doesn't it make sense that you share them with colleagues? Similarly, if someone else has done the work and found resources already, why not just use their efforts?

On Del.icio.us, you can create your own network. The network will be composed of people that wish to access your efforts and also people that you want to rely on for content. In the top left of the screen, you will find a link to "Your Network". The first time that you click it will turn up -- nothing. You've got to add people to your network. Why not add me to get started? My del.icio.us name is "dougpete" and you can see the sites that I've tagged at: http://del.icio.us/dougpete/.

Here's the latest from my account.

Once you've added me, you'll have access to all of the sites that I've added to my del.icio.us account. But, it gets even better. Find the link to "dougpete"'s network. There, you'll find people that I follow and also my "fans" - people that follow me. Check them out to see if they are bookmarking things that would be of interest to you. If they do, add them to your network. As this network grows, you'll have an even bigger body of knowledge to draw upon.

If people are using Del.icio.us correctly, they will "tag" or identify the type of content on a web site. You can search for these tags. Or, if you want to see all of the sites that a person has tagged with that tag, just click on it. Del.icio.us will quickly return all of the results. Once you've created your own network and know how to search through their tags, you will reduce your dependency on generic search engines and focus instead on the collective knowledge of your network.

While you're at it, make sure that you add them to your account. As it becomes of value, people will add YOU to their network. This is how it grows.

Check in
Who are you finding of interest on Del.icio.us? Is your network growing? Del.icio.us has a terrific Add-In for your browser. With it, you can add your links just by clicking on an icon. What could be easier?