What is a Tag ? Part II
Aggregation in TagSpace
Before I move on, let's try to sum up what we found before :
Tags are freely chosen keywords that qualify content (in the context of a subject of interest), and they can be used as filters to discover this content.
Now let's look closer at a given tag. The following word is a tag and it's value is : blue. See how this word is different from the rest of the text ? First, it is a hyperlink. Second, there is this strange little orange hexagon alongside. What does that mean ?
Do all tags have to be hyperlinks ? My answer is : they should be. Why ? Because following that link will give us a clue about the context of that tag. Remember when I said that the meaning of a tag depended on the context (for example who chose it) ? The link allows us to navigate to a page where the tag meaning could be explained a bit. Not necessarily a definition, but other content that will be related to that tag. And then, you could start to understand in what context that tag is meaningful.
Let's put that in a perspective. When you read a title like "Tagging is a calamity", it means something different if you're reading it in BusinessWeek Technology pages or in the neighbourhood letter's. So the same content actually means something different depending on where it is posted.
Well that's the same with tags. You have to associate a tag with a context to help people infer meaning. And that association is typically a link. When you click on our previous tag (with the orange icon besides), you will get to a page where you' ll find context about that tag. In our case, context will be : all other articles (from this blog) that are stamped with this same tag. So this tag has a local meaning, in the context of this blog.
Most Web2.0 uses of tags are effectively respecting that unsaid rule "all tags shall be links to a place showing context-related content". In that place, the rule also says that it will contain an (rather exhaustive) list of all content stamped with that tag.
If you think this is all bullshit, you're quite right...Let's get to the point ;-)
So my point is : a tag is also a link to an aggregation space. Where that link brings you is what will make you understand context, and hopefully meaning of the tag. So the same tag (even given by the same underwriter) found in the same bulk of text can have a different meaning depending on the link that it is bearing...
You think this is crazy ? It's time to get back to this little orange icon ;-)
The little orange icon is in fact a different link to another aggregation space, that for convenience we will call a tagspace. From the same tag ("blue") goes two links :
I know it's quite hard to understand, but it's even harder to explain ;-)
So I introduced a new term : a tagspace. A tagspace is similar to a namespace or a langage. It is where a given keyword gather meaningful context. Tagspaces can be chosen or associated. For example, I could have a link in my local tagspace for tag "blue" to the Wikipedia definition of "blue". It would mean that I defer the context of "blue" to the Wikipedia tagspace.
You begin to understand that your ship is about to enter the "hypertagspace"...
Navigating between tagspaces, finding the union of similar meaning, grouping tagspaces by affinity, yes, you're right, the possibilities are endless. And they will be explored, because tags are just the smallest little element in the semantic grid, that will allow computers help you organize, discover and manage informations produced by billions of people taken in a creative tornado...
What do you think ?
Tags : tags, tagging, tagspace
Tags are freely chosen keywords that qualify content (in the context of a subject of interest), and they can be used as filters to discover this content.
Now let's look closer at a given tag. The following word is a tag and it's value is : blue. See how this word is different from the rest of the text ? First, it is a hyperlink. Second, there is this strange little orange hexagon alongside. What does that mean ?
Do all tags have to be hyperlinks ? My answer is : they should be. Why ? Because following that link will give us a clue about the context of that tag. Remember when I said that the meaning of a tag depended on the context (for example who chose it) ? The link allows us to navigate to a page where the tag meaning could be explained a bit. Not necessarily a definition, but other content that will be related to that tag. And then, you could start to understand in what context that tag is meaningful.
Let's put that in a perspective. When you read a title like "Tagging is a calamity", it means something different if you're reading it in BusinessWeek Technology pages or in the neighbourhood letter's. So the same content actually means something different depending on where it is posted.
Well that's the same with tags. You have to associate a tag with a context to help people infer meaning. And that association is typically a link. When you click on our previous tag (with the orange icon besides), you will get to a page where you' ll find context about that tag. In our case, context will be : all other articles (from this blog) that are stamped with this same tag. So this tag has a local meaning, in the context of this blog.
Most Web2.0 uses of tags are effectively respecting that unsaid rule "all tags shall be links to a place showing context-related content". In that place, the rule also says that it will contain an (rather exhaustive) list of all content stamped with that tag.
If you think this is all bullshit, you're quite right...Let's get to the point ;-)
So my point is : a tag is also a link to an aggregation space. Where that link brings you is what will make you understand context, and hopefully meaning of the tag. So the same tag (even given by the same underwriter) found in the same bulk of text can have a different meaning depending on the link that it is bearing...
You think this is crazy ? It's time to get back to this little orange icon ;-)
The little orange icon is in fact a different link to another aggregation space, that for convenience we will call a tagspace. From the same tag ("blue") goes two links :
- one to a page in this blog, aka the local tagspace
- one to a page in the Guten Tag service, aka the remote tagspace
I know it's quite hard to understand, but it's even harder to explain ;-)
So I introduced a new term : a tagspace. A tagspace is similar to a namespace or a langage. It is where a given keyword gather meaningful context. Tagspaces can be chosen or associated. For example, I could have a link in my local tagspace for tag "blue" to the Wikipedia definition of "blue". It would mean that I defer the context of "blue" to the Wikipedia tagspace.
You begin to understand that your ship is about to enter the "hypertagspace"...
Navigating between tagspaces, finding the union of similar meaning, grouping tagspaces by affinity, yes, you're right, the possibilities are endless. And they will be explored, because tags are just the smallest little element in the semantic grid, that will allow computers help you organize, discover and manage informations produced by billions of people taken in a creative tornado...
What do you think ?
Tags : tags, tagging, tagspace
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