Tagging RSS Feeds
Right now I use OMEA reader for all my offline RSS stuff - I don't think it matters which reader(s) you use - the categorisation systems are often the same.
For example - most categorisation software of this ilk allows you to build categories and subcategories to represent you favourite feeds - a tree stucture view.
You end up with a taxonomical structure that is like a directory hierarchy - easy to build and find things if you are used to organising structures likes this - but very contstraining if you want to build a cloud based directory.
I end up with a big tree structure which I can navigate easily - after all I've categorised and sub-categorised the feeds according to my own personal categoisation system - but which can be (a) very big, (b) highly personalised, and (c) search is clunky for other people - you end up bolting on a search engine for free text search.
So - underneath the root of my tree I build taxononomic structures based on my knowledge of directory structures, my preferences and my chosen categories.
BUT - suppose the RSS newsreader I was using DIDN'T use a taxonomic-directory tree type structure all the time?
Suppose I just multi-tagged each RSS feed as I subscribed to it - and then the RSS reader organised my feeds according to a tag similarity metric - and not just according to my fixed categorisation.
The representation of my feeds could still be a tree structure - but it could also be represented as cloud structure.
Then I just need to add in a reliable tag semantic extraction program which looks at the content of what I read and there will be yet another view of my data - a roving cloud that had "highs" and "lows" and "storms" when something big hits my RSS SyndicSpace.
Then my I wouldn't be restricted to a directory view of my feeds - I'd have multiple views that would dynamilcally change as RSS SyndicSpace changes.
I wouldn't need to work my way through all my feeds category by category, feed by feed, in a linear fashion.
If something becomes "hot" and many weblogs are carrying information about that subject - my representation of SyndicSpace would change to draw my attention to what is new.
Technorati does a lot of this for me right now
In my RSS reader I have a whole bunch of categories which are nothing but clusters of tags based on my chosen categories. I still have to check them out daily - but I can see everything that is written about the subjects withing the tag clusters.
It makes my life simpler - I know what I am interested in right now so I can navigate my tree structure easily - but it makes "discovery of the new" very difficult.
My categories are my fixed view of the world - not the world itself - and when the world changes - I want my view of the world to change also.
What I need is something that takes account of my personal preferences and automatically tags new information according to what I want that day - it will make the "discovery of the new" much easier.
Tags: tags tagging folksonomy tagsonomy tag clusters tag clouds tagclouds categorisation collective emergent categorisation syndicspace