My bookmarks are del.icio.us

When I first heard of the social bookmarking website Del.icio.us (simply pronounced 'Delicious') I didn't really get it. Why on earth would someone need to save their bookmarks to a website rather than just use the bookmarks on their web browser? In time I heard about how other people used Del.icio.us and I finally signed up just to see what all the fuss was about. Then a funny thing happened. I good hooked. What I found with Del.icio.us was an entire world of functions that I didn't know I wanted but now can't live without. Here are the two big ones for me:

• Tags: The ability to tag every bookmark and even create my own notes and thoughts about that bookmark for future reference. The tags allow me create my own keyword topics around a general idea. For instance, I'm going to be speaking to a PR firm here in Nashville in a few weeks to give them an overview of web 2.0 and how it applies to their work. I've been bookmarking sites and stories recently with the tag "PR" to use for my upcoming presentation. I wouldn't have had that without creating a folder on my browser before which isn't a huge deal, but if a story comes along that I want to tag "PR" and something else then it's no problem for Del.icio.us to let me categorize the link as many ways as I want but where would I put it if I only used folders on my browser?
  
• Web access: The fact that my bookmarks are always online has paid off numerous times. A week ago I was meeting with a few people and the discussion brought to mind something I had tagged recently so I was able to just pull it right up whether I had my laptop with me or not. I've gone to my Del.icio.us bookmarks numerous times when I haven't had my own computer with me and it's been great to get what I need for those occasions.
  

I read somewhere recently that you can learn a lot about what someone is thinking by watching their Del.icio.us tags. Bloggers on Wordpress can even use a widget to post their new Del.icio.us links for the day. I've discovered countless helpful articles and websites through other people's links. Del.icio.us has become one of those tools I use every day for my own link collection and for discovery. If you want to see what I'm tagging, check out Del.icio.us/fourthbill.