When you’re on the Internet, you can fall down the rabbit hole of searches. You’re clicking from one topic to another without pause. When you started, you might have been searching for grilling recipes, but when you’re done, you’re on a page about the latest celebrity story. While you might not want to save everything you skim in a day, there’s no way you would be able to replicate the trail you just created, or the interesting articles you want to read later.
At times like this, it helps to save interesting articles, news stories, recipes, celebrity gossip or wallets in one central location. One way to achieve this is through browser bookmarks. While it’s possible to sync bookmarks across all of your devices with certain browsers, including Google Chrome and Firefox, most people never look at their bookmarks after saving a site.
The Solution: Visual Bookmarking
Visual bookmarking services allow you to organize your online interests. They are a place that you can save interesting stories, compelling photographs or tutorials in one place that can be searchable as well as organized into boards or layouts that are easy to track.
When the articles are clipped or pinned to the online organizer, you can gather them by topic for easy viewing later. Some visual bookmarking services may work offline. You can’t always be within range of Wi-Fi or Internet service. If you’re in the backyard trying to grill, you want to be able to view the recipes you’ve saved to your device.
While you are on your laptop at home, you can save a news story about cocktails onto the visual bookmarking service. Later, you’re out for drinks with a friend, and you want to share the story you read. Instead of doing a search for cocktails, your phone is already synched with the data you’ve saved. You can find the board and instantly show your friend the story.
Examples of Visual Bookmarking Services
Clipix.com is an example of a clipping service that allows you to compile links into boards, work offline and compare prices. Clipix can alert you to lower prices on your favorite items, which is something other clipping services don’t offer.
Pinterest.com has over 100 million monthly users, becoming the visual bookmarking tool of choice of most individuals. For comparison, Twitter currently counts 316 million monthly active users and Snapchat hit 100 million this time a year ago, and is now believed to have doubled that.
For additional visual bookmarking options, check this list of Pinterest imitators and this second list of even more Pinterest imitators.
