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What I think is coming instead are much more organic ways…

“What I think is coming instead are much more organic ways of organizing information than our current categorization schemes allow, based on two units - the link, which can point to anything, and the tag, which is a way of attaching labels to links. The strategy of tagging - free-form labeling…” quote by Clay Shirky
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“What I think is coming instead are much more organic ways of organizing information than our current categorization schemes allow, based on two units - the link, which can point to anything, and the tag, which is a way of attaching labels to links. The strategy of tagging - free-form labeling, without regard to categorical constraints - seems like a recipe for disaster, but as the Web has shown us, you can extract a surprising amount of value from big messy data sets.”

Clay Shirky

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Proposes linking and tagging as flexible, organic methods to structure data beyond rigid categories.

In simple terms: Use links and tags to organize info organically.

Key Takeaway

Adopt flexible data structures.

Themes

information organization technology

Mood

analytical forward‑thinking

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

  • research
  • software development
  • digital archiving
  • knowledge management

Key Concepts

network theory metadata semantic web

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can we balance freedom and order in data?
  • What tools help maintain useful tags?
A Different Perspective

Tagging without standards can create chaos.

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