The Abstract
Tagging as an interface trend in current social software architecture relies on user input to assign meaning to a given object, typically a link, image, or document. This process has given rise to a term called ‘folksonomy’ or ‘tagsonomy’, a play on words from its more formal predecessor, ‘taxonomy’. Unlike its namesake however, folksonomy is predicated on the idea that social intervention can give rise to a more meaningful web experience. As the internet continues to grow at a steady rate, making things more findable and useful is becoming increasingly difficult. In opposition to this, there is a continued pursuit to expand the underlying structure of the web through an ontological framework that will form a stable basis of meaning. It is felt that a massive all encompassing ontology that users can rely on to extract meaning from the web, and at the same time is governed by rules that software can interpret will be the best environment to make sense of this expanding space.
We see the need for a combination of machine readable structure, or rules, upon which socially driven input can exist upon or within. One of the greatest problems with folksonomy is the variation from which a user can assign meaning or tag an object. Semantic differences alone account for much of the disparity in meaning, but even more unknowable factors such as using a plural form of a word can cause a great separation of ideas that should otherwise be grouped together. Also, there is the capability to dilute the meaning of a tag through inconsistent or malicious use, as would be the case of spammers. Ontology and other hierarchical based approaches are too fixed and do not take into account, or make possible an evolving dynamic space that reflects more the natural world we exist within.
A Cellular Automata System (CAS) is a dynamic system that arranges itself based on the state of the system and the state of the elements within the system. Each element in the system follows a simple set of rules that define how they communicate with each other, and how they respond when they encounter another element. By following the rules in aggregate an order can emerge within the system that is not apparent within the rules themselves.
Both CAS and tagsonomy are self-organizing systems that rely on the isolated acts of the individual to create a higher-level order. However, the organization in the current crop of tagsonomy systems (del.icio.us, flickr) is very low level when compared to other bottom up systems like CA. The difference being individuals in a CAS follow universal rules as they move through the system, while taggers do not. It is the rules that make (CAS) work.
Our paper will pursue potential opportunities for adding a usable layer of rules to the process of tagging. We will discuss the potential of ‘adding metadata to the metadata’ through weighting of tags or sequencing of tags through more formal structures. Where possible, we will propose experiments and usability studies that could test the validity of our theories.