Tagging' helps unclutter data

CNN.com - 'Tagging' helps unclutter data - May 3, 2005:

Tagging has the potential to change how we keep track of and discover things digital -- even whom we meet online. Several startups are banking their futures on it.

It could be our salvation as we attempt to sift through the growing clutter of data we're amassing on our hard drives and on that growing digital repository that is the Internet.

'People are awash in an overwhelming sea of stuff,' said Joshua Schachter, founder of del.icio.us, a service for tag-enabled online bookmarks. 'Our ability to produce content far outstrips the ability to sort and consume it.'

And with the growing production of photos, sound and video clips -- material not easily searchable -- tags become ever more important.