Hot 50: BOOKMARKING SITES

If you spoke about ‘tweeting’ and ‘twittering’ a couple of years ago, most people would think you were imitating a bird. ‘Twitter’ was, however, the mostused word of 2009, according to researchers from the Texas-based group Global Language Monitor.

Twitter is part of the new craze that’s sweeping the Web in the form of bookmarking sites. These are sites that allow users to post their favourite sites, using tags (or keywords) to categorise them, enabling other users to add these bookmarks to their own collection.

Sites known as ‘visual blogs’ are revolutionising how we look for images, with some targeting creative minds. The Hot 50 panel cited www.dropular.net, www.ffffound.com and www.butdoesitfloat.com as media bookmarking sites which make it possible for members to save and collect their favourite images and videos found from various sources online.

While all these sites have a similar service, Dropular.net is invitation-only, aimed at fashion designers, photographers, architects, graphic designers and artists. Ffffound.com recommends each user’s tastes and interests for an inspirational image-bookmarking experience. Butdoesitfloat.com, meanwhile, is an ongoing visual conversation curated by interaction design group Folkert and Atley.