Part 3: Social Bookmarking and Aggregating - Avoiding overload

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Furl is a social bookmarking site similar to del.icio.us. Furl, which stands for File Uniform Resource Locator, was created in 2003 by Mike Giles, and then later purchased by LookSmart, in 2004. This site is an easy and free way to organise your favourite content on the web. When a user adds an item to their Furl account (aka “furls” the item), it archives a copy of the page, so that at a later stage it will be easy and quick to retrieve. Once a user has registered for free on this site, they are allocated 5 GB of personal space to save their personalised links in (and that’s a whole lot of links).

Before we go any further let’s look at a definition of “furled”. This is when a user adds a site to their Furl archive which can then be viewed at a later stage.

Furling

Furl enables users to categorise their favourite links in simple categories or topics such as general, personal or business. This is similar to the del.icio.us system of tagging. Users can also write comments or add keywords to an article to help personalise their Furl account. Privacy is taken very seriously on Furl; in fact an added feature on Furl is that you are able to store certain links privately.

From your personalised links, Furl’s filters begin to predict your specific tastes; Furl then sends you submissions which ‘it’ thinks would be of interest to you.

Furl also allows users to share their favourite content on the net with friends and family. Users can simply share their favourite links, or Furl can send these members an email with the latest updates in it.

Users can see other accounts to a limited degree. However to avoid copyright issues the archived copy is only visible to the user who bookmarked it. Other users can simply see the address and are directed to the original site. The front page of the site shows the most popular items that other users have furled by topic and day.

How To Get Started

Registration is a fairly easy 3 step process. Firstly users must fill in a username and password (there is an option to fill out your name but it is not mandatory). Users must also agree to the comprehensive privacy policy. Step 2 and 3 involve installing a ‘Furl it’ button on your toolbar. This way, when you find something interesting it can be furled by simply clicking on the button on the toolbar. To archive a link, a pop-up window will appear which will allow you to categorise the link and or add a comment. After completing this form, the link is archived and can be retrieved at any time. Furl also sports a large and very easy to understand FAQ section which will help you to get started on this cool social bookmarking site.

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