Tag clouds
Folksonomy is considered a wow right? Wrong! I think we’re in a wow every time something comes along that tends to create that instant feeling. What it also implies is that it’s more spontaneous and much less judicious. Zeldman explains why the problems with tag clouds run deeper.
Jeffrey Zeldman: The idea behind tag clouds is that users know best. Their actions determine how other users navigate. Their choices leave a trail. Typically, though not always, the “important” topics get big while those considered less important (which in this case only means less popular) get small. Once they get small enough, they disappear.
In Flickr and Technorati, users create their own tags (“design,” “cats,” “California”). When enough people have used the same tag, it begins to show up in the cloud. Once a lot of people have used it, it becomes a visually dominant element, encouraging others to click it — and subtly discouraging them from creating their own tags.
Do read the entire post. This is a such a fine read. [via ProNet, Six Apart]