May 5, 2006
User tagging on delicious - hear the voice of your customer, for free
It doesn't matter what business you think you're in, you're in the business your customers think you're in. And companies spend a fortune on focus groups, surveys and other feedback mechanisms to try to figure that out.
Fred Wilson at Union Square Ventures makes a point about how user tagging (like on delicious) is fundamental to internet infrastructure and the valuable information that publishers can get out of that:
User tagging is vastly superior to self tagging because it is the consumers who are navigating and trying to find the stuff. The way they describe it is the same way they will try to find it. And it's really hard for publishers to figure out all the keywords up front.
I think it goes beyond just publishers, though - businesses of all kinds can learn from the way that users have tagged pages about their products and services, and those of their competitors. And you get to hear their voices without paying for it, because they've done the tagging out of self-interest.
All you need to do is listen.
Posted by kenking at May 5, 2006 1:36 PM
