Posted by makeuseof guest-writer Mark O’Neill
With all the hype surrounding Del.icio.us and Digg, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that they are other bookmarking sites out there on the Information Super-Highway. If you are a blogger, knowing about the “alternative” bookmarking sites can be very useful for spreading the word about your latest blog posts.
Some of the following services have niche subjects such as news or blogs, while others allow you to bookmark pretty much anything.
Ma.gnolia: I used Ma.gnolia when it was in its beta phase and when I was wondering whether Del.icio.us and I had a future together. Just like Del.icio.us, Ma.gnolia allows you to back up your browser bookmarks and also share links with other people. They also have two features that I find really interesting - the ability to rank a website on a one-to-five star system and cached copies of every webpage you bookmark so you have a backup copy if the website goes down when you need it.
Fark: Fark is a news aggregator website and one where you can submit news stories for inclusion on the front page. Fark mostly focuses on the weird and offbeat kind of news. Glancing at the site as I write this, I notice one headline which says “woman shows her Xbox to 17-year-old Game Boy, who flashes his Wii. Game over when PS’d-off husband calls the cops”. So you get the idea about what kind of site it is. If you have a news-related blog, Fark could be the place to get your stories submitted.
Reddit: plain in its design but simple to read with some really interesting links being submitted. Like Digg, you can comment on each submission. I am finding myself visiting Reddit on a regular basis to see what’s new. Possibly second most popular social news wesbite after Digg.
Furl: Furl archives a personal copy of every page you save. Each member has a personal archive of 5 gigabytes, large enough to store tens of thousands of searchable items. Furl members can also send a daily email newsletter of links to friends and colleagues and generate a RSS feed of your links.
Newsvine: Purely a news story submission website but unlike Fark, Newsvine concentrates on more serious news. Submit stories, vote and comment on existing stories, and even write your own “Newsvine column” about anything you consider newsworthy.
Technorati: every blogger worth their salt knows all about Technorati. As well as some great blog tools, you can also use Technorati to bookmark your favourite blogs and read the latest posts. Technorati provides a browser bookmarklet which you can click to instantly bookmark a blog when you find a new one you like.
Slashdot : its tagline is “news for nerds” and has a heavy slant towards technology and linux. You can submit stories in the technology / gadgets area to Slashdot and they might make the front page. Every computer nerd I know is a huge fan of Slashdot.
Backflip: again, I used Backflip during its early days and I was quite impressed with its design and usability. It’s gone through a change of management so things have changed slightly. But this is still one to keep an eye on and submit links to. It seems to be quite busy.
Blinklist: again, similar to other bookmarking websites - click the bookmarklet and save links to your own webpage on Blinklist. Like Del.icio.us, use tags to find links again and keep some links private.
Simpy: another bookmarking service similar to Reddit - plain in style but interesting submissions. Make an account and start submitting stories.
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Do you have a favourite bookmarking website not included in the list above? Tell us about it in the comments!
(By) Mark O’Neill is a freelance writer, proofreader, editor and blogger. Check out his blog at BetterThanTherapy.net
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Filed Under: Cool Websites ¦ Lists of tools
Tags: bookmarks, community, Digg, social media
Nice list! You gave each bookmarking site a good description.
Well, I like Sphinn (it’s a social news site intended for internet marketing news). Propeller is a good one too.
I’ve published a post on my blog and I gave ten reasons why an internet marketer/webmaster should use Sphinn. You may see it here if you like.
Mark,
Thanks for including Simpy, although I am completely surprised by the reddit comparison - the two services are not that similar. Simpy is a lot closer to del.icio.us and ma.gnolia (damn dots!)
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Groups, Notes, Watchlist (+ Filters), powerful search, Smarky (a Firefox extension that syncs your FF bookmarks with your Simpy bookmarks), and so on…
Thanks for the link, nice read.
Good list. I’d like to add a site that isn’t really a social bookmarking site but does include the ability to store and share links in its feature set.
Byteswap.com allows you to create a virtual file cabinet for links, files, photos, contacts - practically anything.
Plus lots of sharing/community functionality. Worth a sniff!
Awesome info Mark, I really needed this because I’m getting into the bookmarking world just now.
Thank You
Ok this is an old post but I like Mixx & Diigo, those are two that are becoming favorites of mine.