Let’s talk bookmarks. Not the plastic laminated pictures of puppies with a silk ribbon tassel and bead, but online bookmarks. As each of us surf various websites, we all find certain sites we like and want to remember for future reference. Each browser out there has a bookmark feature where you can click a button to save a site or save a page. You can even create sub folders to help you organize those bookmarks. There are a number of reasons to move beyond the simple browser bookmarks of a few years ago and save your bookmarks online.
If you are like me, you have more than one computer. So any site you like at home and want to see in the office tomorrow, you have to write down or email yourself. Now that’s a pain in and of itself. Now what about a site that you aren’t quite sure how you want to categorize? For example, how would you classify The Huffington Post? Politics? National News? International News? Business News? Local News? Sports? Trivia? Gossip? Technology? Turns out that with an online bookmark, you can choose them all. Online bookmarks also allow you to share your bookmarks with all your computers, your friends, or the whole world.
Here are a few online bookmarks to consider:
Google (closest to traditional browser bookmarks but saved online)
Diigo (feature rich such as additional sticky notes)
Mister Wong (Europe’s favorite)
Delicious (my favorite…but rumor has it Yahoo might either shut it down or sell it)
Zukmo (new and quite promising)
You control what tags, or classifications you assign each site or saved page. Many of these sites will even open the bookmark dialog box with the most common tags other users have used to save time and make your bookmarking easier. With these sites you can also control what pages and sites you share or keep private as well.
Something else to consider, especially for those who don’t do regular backups on their computer… what happens should your computer die? Where are all your bookmarks? Mine are a few clicks away, and because they exist in the “cloud”, they are available to me anywhere in the world I can get online. Online bookmarking is a “slam dunk”….it is easy and free!
