SOCIAL BOOKMARKING: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF CONNOTEA USERS' PERSPECTIVES

This study examined the perspectives of experienced and inexperienced users of Connotea in terms of reported bookmarking behaviors, perceived usefulness of social bookmarking in information discovery and management, and perceived usefulness of particular Connotea features. A convenience sample of experienced (n=30) and inexperienced users (n=32) responded to an online survey. The questionnaire utilized a 4-point Likert scale to examine the respondents’ opinions. The findings showed that both experienced and inexperienced users of Connotea perceived social bookmarking to be useful for information discovery and management. They also perceived the features and policies of Connotea to be useful for their personal purposes. However, the reported frequencies of usage indicated that the extent of use of social bookmarking may not be substantial. Experienced users were also found to use social bookmarking for managing relevant websites while inexperienced users still preferred to use traditional bookmarking in dedicated computers. These findings have potential implications on the development and use of social bookmarking services. Through our results, we provided information on the human factors that may be considered for further improvement of social bookmarking applications.