A Comparison of Social Tagging Designs and User Participation

Abstract

Social tagging empowers users to categorize content in a personally meaningful way while harnessing their potential to contribute to a collaborative construction of knowledge. In addition, social tagging systems offer innovative filtering mechanisms that facilitate resource discovery and browsing. As a result, social tags support online communication, informal or intended learning as well as the development of online communities. This poster will report on a mixed methods study that examined how undergraduate students participate in social tagging activities. Preliminary results of this study echo findings found in the growing literature concerning social tagging from the fields of computer science and information science.