Building my rebooted:bbc.co.uk homepage - #12: My Bookmarks
The idea behind my 'My Bookmarks' panel on my redesign of the BBC homepage, is actually a very old one, and one that has been knocking around inside the BBC for years. Variations on it have already been trialled with some user groups. The fundamental point for my himepage design is that there are lots of users who only visit the same several places on the site - so why not let them have the links they need on the homepage to make the journey easier?
However, it might be quite tricky for novice users to get the hang of, so my idea is that this part of the page works on three levels.
The first level is that rather like what 'collective' does in the foot of the pages there, where the site tracks which pages a user has visited. These would then be displayed back to the user when they next visit my reboot:bbc.co.uk homepage in the 'Recent pages' section. This can probably be done with session cookies, and wouldn't even require registration, thus providing some kind of personalised navigation and footprint for users who didn't want to bother with fiddling with personalised features.
The second level is to allow users to 'bookmark' pages on bbc.co.uk. I would propose adding a 'Bookmark this' link either into the toolbar or standard navigation across the BBC site, and when it was clicked it would populate this panel. For more advanced users the BBC could also offer a bookmarklet or Firefox extension and the like to allow them to bookmark pages across the whole of the web. I wouldn't suggest that the BBC build this architecture from scratch - maybe it should consider partnering with Furl or del.icio.us or some other social bookmarking technology.
The third level is for advanced users, who already use a service like Furl or del.icio.us - the BBC should give the option of plugging the URL of a pre-exisiting bookmarking service's RSS feed into the panel - so that the user can continue to use their favourite service, but also get the results displayed back to them when they visit bbc.co.uk.
The concept isn't disimilar to some of the ideas in one of my favourite entries into the competition so far - rudpunk's Home and BBC Box. What I particularly liked was the concept and mock-up of the "BBC Box", where users could save their favourite BBC content and searches, and links from the web, into different folder topics. It looked like a really good idea, and I was impressed with the finer detail in the mock-up, like providing links to a BBC box button for IE and Firefox.
- 16 May 2006 13:04
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Only that by having a bookmarklet that lets people bookmark pages from outside the BBC your opening yourselves up to potentially unsavoury material.
Some new social bookmarking start ups are now struggling with the issue of porn spam as merchants see a way of bringing material to a wider audience. Serious users just bail out to another service.
The BBC can’t have age restrictions if it goes into the social bookmarking business.
Altavista was unable to filter porn from their results (based on metatags) 10 years ago this meant that Yahoo and Google, which successfully did so, became dominant in the search market.
The idea might be adapted to getting people to contribute to a BBC ‘peoples’ Directory where entries could be vetted first.
One thing I noticed was missing from Creative Future was how material could or should be controlled. Eg. How is the idea of watershed maintained if material such a Rome can be downloaded at any time? What are the limits to free speech allowed in Blogs? I suspect that if the BBC does open it self up to participation these issues could become more prominent. It wouldn’t take much to give the tabloids a front page headline.
I understand what you are saying, but I think if ideas like BBC Box were just "your" BBC Box, or My Bookmarks were just your bookmarks for personal use, then I guess it is your own responsibility if you bookmark pr0n, and only you are going to see it when you are logged on to bbc.co.uk
>> How is the idea of watershed maintained if material such a Rome can be downloaded at any time?
cue name drop - I asked Mark Thompson a similar question at a Q&A seminar I was at with him a year or so ago. Essentially the idea that came back from the discussion that followed was that "the watershed" becomes content rating metadata.
Actually back in October last year the BBC homepage trialled promoting post-watershed streaming material only "after dark" - and collated some feedback from the audience about it - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/F2131439?thread=1194030
I quite like the idea of social bookmarking juts within the BBC content.
I really like blinklist.com because browing through the public clickstream (lots of designers) I find many interesting sites I wouldn't have otherwise.
I think something similar would be a really cool way of getting users to discover (and share) BBC content they'd otherwise be unaware of. A totally new navigation system & also develops a sense of being part of a BBC community.
[Just a comment about offering a general bookmarking service. Does the beeb have to do everything?]
The next development in bookmarking (W 2.5?) will be niche subjects. ie. Academic, health, tech, blogs etc.
I like your idea of letting people access email from within their Personal page. Could they import RSS feeds etc from elsewhere as well?