TheHistoryOf.net

I have often said that every generation thinks that they invented sex and music.  I might now add that this generation thinks that it invented tagging.  However, tags have been used for centuries to label and classify items that are discreet parts of a group.  They have also been used by stores to label goods and by courts to mark ownership and land boundaries.  However, modern tags have their own uses, specifically to show someone’s online identity.

It All Began Like This

The closest relative to online tags would be the labels created by museums to designate and describe an object in their collections.  Just as the labels in a museum are designed to describe what you are seeing, so tags are used in the computer world to describe websites and the material they contain.

One might also compare tags to the Dewey Decimal System used to organize books in a library.  Just as the Dewey Decimal System helps those visiting libraries find the books they are looking for, so computer tags are designed to lead people through the maze of online material to a site that contains the information they need.

We Have a Problem Here

As the Internet developed and more and more websites came online during the turn of the last century, site owners had many issues to deal with, but two stood out from the others.  The first was how to cause one’s own website to stand out from the others and to attract viewers who might share information or, even better, buy products.

The other issue was how to help new viewers find what they were looking for when they did land on the site.  All of us have had the unpleasant experience of moving from page to page in a website trying to find the information that you know is there somewhere.  So, early in the history of the web industry, designers knew they needed to make it easier to find information on a site.

The Answer Lay in the Tags

It was during the earliest days of the 21st century that web developers began to use tags to address these two problems.  First, by using certain keywords frequently in their text, they attracted the notice of the then developing search engines and in turn had more hits to their sites.

Once people arrived, many sites allowed visitors to search their sites based on tags they had attached to certain articles.  This allowed people to find the information and items they were looking for quickly and easily, leading them to want to return.

That Sounds Delicious

The first social bookmarking site to provide for users to add tags to their online bookmarks was the website Delicious in 2003.  The site also allowed its viewers to see sites that others have tagged with similar descriptions.  Delicious was soon followed by Flickr, which lets its viewer tag pictures that they upload onto the site and organize into cyber albums.  This allowed other viewers to easily search the site for photos of people and things that they wanted to view.

Before long, Delicious and Flickr were joined by YouTube, a social software site that allows its users to upload and tag videos.  Some email sites, such as Google’s Gmail, contain tags in the form of labels that help others find topical information.

Tags Today

Today website owners and developers can buy premium WordPress themes online.  These groups of tags are designed to support and enhance websites in a way that will attract more visitors and make the sites easier to navigate.  For instance, Genesis WordPress themes provides tags for a wide variety of subjects.

About the Author

Melissa Cameron is a self-proclaimed Internet nerd who loves tagging and being tagged online.