In the world of entertainment, the use of tags in blog entries about bands lets their marketers hear the buzz.
Kathy thought of celebrity as a subtle fluid, a universal element, like the phlogiston of the ancients, something spread evenly at creation through all the universe, but prone now to accrete, under specific conditions, around certain individuals and their careers.
— William Gibson, Idoru (1996)
There are so many sources of information, and tools to manage them, the typical online user tends to stick with a trusted few. Only rarely do new tools or applications break through the maelstrom and land upon the shores of widespread adoption.
BusinessWeek discussed how the art of “tagging” online resources helps one digital marketer with the task of chasing the elusive buzz. The article mentions how the CEO of Wiredset Digital Agency, Mark Ghuneim, discovered a use for Del.icio.us that could help his firm.
As del.icio.us users tag content related to their interests, other users like Mr. Ghuneim can keep track of ones related to bands managed by his record company clients. When users start tagging mentions of a concert or song released by a band, someone like Wiredset can see that buzz via the tags.
Buzz is information, and companies like Factiva and Umbria Communications have begun to build commercial offerings that delve into the blogosphere and collecting that buzz. Tags, as used by del.icio.us users, don’t cost anything, and following them is as easy as registering for free and devoting the time to doing so.
Del.icio.us describes itself as “social bookmarking.” The concept of sharing bookmarks has been implemented in various ways before, but this approach shares concepts as bookmarks instead, through the use of tags. As others add sites to their list of links by tagging them, third-parties can see how the buzz has accreted for a particular topic, like a band and its work as discussed online.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
