How Folksonomy Gave Users Power

First off, what even is Folksonomy? It’s a strange term combining both ‘Folk’ and ‘Taxonomy’. Folksonomy is a tool that allows the user to sort their information into self created tags. These tags help the user re-find particular information that they deemed important or interesting. This was a counter to Taxonomy which were tags created by the content owners.

Folksonomy gave control into the hands of the users and created social tagging. Going from individual and personal tags, Folksonomy developed into the social sphere and allowed the global spreading of information between users. Early on in Folksonomy development, tags were used on sites like Del.icio.us and Flickr to add their own tags onto specific pieces of information. However over the years Folksonomy grew to be something much bigger. With the development of companies like Twitter and Instagram, Folksonomy has been largely incorporated into what is now know as the Hashtag (#).

The hashtag led the way for collaborative tagging. The sharing of information across the world. This simple tool has allowed people, businesses and governments to spread their message and information for anyone to see. This use of Folksonomy has created the foundation for social movements, the acknowledgment of rights and justice and much more.

While the hashtag folksonomy is still largely relevant, technology is ever changing. Who knows what the situation will be like in a few months or a few years. Folksonomy needs to continue to develop, even working to incorporate taxonomy into the system. People need to be able to navigate through massive amounts of information and folksonomy is currently the best option.