Categories, Links, and Tags

Jan LIEVENS, Portrait of Poet Jan Vos, C. 1630 in Amsterdam, Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

As many of you know there are two major blogging platforms Blogger, owned by Google and Typepad/Moveable Type owned by Six Apart.

Bloggers often mention the ability to categorize posts in the Six Apart platforms as a big advantage over Blogger. Users of GMAIL similarly ask why it has has not folders? A enlightening explanation comes from Clay Shirky who published an essay: Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags. A highly recommended reading. It sheds light on the seminal concepts that are coming to the fore in the information age (for some of the librarians on this blog a required reading).