I made a post on the wordpress forums about tags and categories. The tagging thing is more like a feature I think would make for better granularity/searching, since I think the word “category” has somewhat of a broader feel.
This post is more about the categories idea. People find stuff on wordpress via the tag cloud. Thus surely it makes sense to always choose your categories to match the cloud? For example I use “General” most people seem to use “random.” “Life” is the greatest tag, but I dont use it, even though the content may be similar. However in a way this is gaming the system. I’m undecided if I will- I’d like to have more traffic since so far my internal reaction is that the more people I see on my stats, the more I want to write and write well, but this isn’t about my decision. This is more to ask what people think of this?
In any case I think it’s an interesting insight into something like this. I don’t know a good name for this phenomena like…peerpressure2.0? “Choose your tags to fit the clowd” [[:D Lol what a great quote. 
I rule- now edited post title haha]]
I think this is more interesting than I’m giving it credit for. The social network world is about freedom (in some ways- at least it has great potential for such, there are few limits), but this is evidence that the underlying social pressure behind conforming, comes not out of “wanting to look cool” or fear, but the far more potent “because it’s easier/more effective” which, in fact, is what I’ve always said. At school they say peer pressure is about people saying “don’t you want to be cool?!” The truth is it’s far more about the facility of living the same. It’s more comfortable, it’s easier. Laziness beats fear 9/10 don’t you think?
So, as in real life, the web is about freedom vs effectiveness. So I’m not complaining- like I said I haven’t decided- while I would always choose freedom in an important case, does it matter here? Is the gain (here: readership) worth the slight loss of individuality (here: my personal choice of tags)? I think understanding that things like this underlie a lot of our social structures is important. Too much time is wasted not understanding what drives us 
Kisses
February 12, 2007 at 10:21 am |
lol, what a read. How do you make something so simple minded so interesting to read? If someone else had wrote it id probably be like “wtf!”. Got a nice way with words dude
February 12, 2007 at 11:16 am |
Pfft. Simple minded? Thanks
And here was me thinking it was insightful! I’m not sure if there’s a net compliment: my writing is good enough that my simple topics are interesting to read… Either way, at least you commented! 
Ttyl mate.
February 12, 2007 at 11:47 am |
Actually, your concept is good: Fitting tags to entice the crowd whilst forming a well-rounded cloud.
1. Crowd.
As we all know, people spend most of their time on search engines. “Google it!” is a catchphrase in every social group I am in – from cars to freeware.
Therefore making your tags real yet unique is often the hardest part of any article.
2. Cloud.
Yes, the words we use are going to be included in our tag-cloud. So its important that whilst we have diversification, we still keep within our niche. By restricting our tags, we also keep ourselves dedicated to the topics at hand. I use this method to remind myself of what I keep myself for. (Of course, there is always room to add more words into the cloud. One cannot stay trapped!)
February 12, 2007 at 11:48 am |
…*what i keep my blog for*.
February 12, 2007 at 12:24 pm |
Don’t you feel there’s a sense that you need to align your cloud with the crowd though? I.e. match your tags to the tags of the next hierarchy cloud to drive traffic. So if I’m a subset of philosophy, I should tag with appropriate tags (as chosen by the social group), as opposed to my individual name for it, so as not to exclude myself. And yet this risks losing diversity which is key for actually expressing yourself.
February 12, 2007 at 3:05 pm |
lol the idea of tags and categories on an internet blog seems simple minded, yet you make a whole topic interesting to read. If im not making the sense to you that i am making for myself the just take it as a huge compliment
February 12, 2007 at 3:13 pm |
That being the case, w00t.
February 12, 2007 at 4:40 pm |
[...] after reading gareths blog about peer pressure and wanting to be the “same”. As he said here “It’s more comfortable, it’s easier” and hes totally [...]
February 12, 2007 at 5:31 pm |
Now i didnt know that would happen^^ Anyways, theres my wordpress