Social bookmarking is one of the oldest in the social media portfolio; forums and noticeboards being by far the oldest, dating back to the first social activities for networked computers.
Social bookmarking can server many purposes, however the one thread I see from many people, particularly those in the blogging system, is to drive traffic to their pages.
The problem with using social bookmarking to drive traffic is that it causes traffic spikes with matching bounce rate spikes. The long term traffic does not really grow.
A second use for social bookmarking is to obtain backlinks to pages on sites. This can be done fairly successfully although rumor now suggests that Google will start to measure the popularity of submitted page before applying any value to a back link.
Many others use social bookmarking to do just that – bookmark pages they like and to then share them with their contacts.
I don’t criticize any of those motives. They are all valid. However there is one common thread that runs across all three motives. They will never be successful unless you have a team. For most social bookmarking sites this involves adding contacts or friends.
Friends or contacts are only going to participate if there is ‘something in it for them’. This is generally the knowledge that the content you are recommending is valuable and worth looking at – in other words your reputation on that site.
If you constantly recommend your own sites then your reputation as a team player will be poor. If you recommend other good quality sites then your reputation will be high and people will follow your advice.
Why do you use social bookmarking, for your own benefit or for the benefit of all?
