Tagging and Microformats: Alex Barnett Explains Why They Are Important

Know More: microformats 2.0, microformats

In an earlier post I talked about microformats, but Alex Barnett explains in a DevSource interview concisely that microformats are simple to use (written in plain language) and make use of technology and methods that are already being used. When coded into a webpage, it creates information that a crawler, can recognize, organize and give to the user.

Tagging is a microformat. Alex predicts that tagging will be used more and more within the firewall, inside a company, so that if someone tags information with "artificial intelligence" anyone with an interest in that tag will be notified of the contribution. Tagging is also a way to assist us in filtering the massive amounts of data coming at us daily.

The amount of data online (around 92,000 terabytes and doubling every 2-3 years) is staggering and, as Alex says, the question isn't how to find information on a topic, but how to find the information you want - the good information, the relevant information. Currently finding information is centered around Search->Browse->Subscribe, but that raises the questions:

What do you search on? How do you identify a search topic? Which engine do you use to search with?
Once you've done the search you have to browse the content. Again, how do you identify which of 30,000 responses to your search are the ones that you want? How can you quickly sift out the the precise meaning of the terms on which you are searching?
If you find a blog, website or newsletter, you can subscribe to it, but very rarely is all the content interesting to you - how can you identify just the topics you want within the context of a website or blog posts?

Tagging is what helps users find the precise connotation of the terms they are looking for in context.

Alex also sold me on tag clouds. I thought they were just an amusing way of looking at information. He explained how they are used for navigation of a site - the cream rises to the top via the number of people interested in a certain term.

I recommend listening to the interview - it is about 15 minutes in length. Alex claims in his blog that he keeps away from pure geek talk, but it will still help it you speak at least pidgin-geek.

Tags: web 2.0, tagging, microformats

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