Pushnote

Since I've already talked about Twitter and RSS feeds in an earlier post, I'm just going to add that I have been using Google Reader a little more over the last few weeks. It seems I've been converted now that I am following more blogs (some cpd23 and some Cam23 2.0 participants).

Onto Pushnote, then - a tool that allows you to rate and rank your favourite websites and share this with others on the web. The principle of sharing information about useful websites is one that I'm sure most cpd23ers support, and Twitter is often used as a means of sharing useful websites via Bit.ly links. Having set up an account to try out Pushnote, I think it's unlikely that I will use it though. Many people like to rate things and give them scores, but this side of Pushnote isn't something that really appeals to me.

I managed to find some other cpd23ers on Pushnote and look at their latest and favourites lists. For me, a drawback of Pushnote is that (unless I missed something) there doesn't seem to be a way of organising or tagging the sites you rate and comment on. If I was going to use it, I'd like to be able to search for sites that have been rated on a particular topic (such as 'libraries' or 'technology'). If Pushnote really takes off, it could be used by libraries to rate the websites that might be useful to their users, as another form of useful links page. For most libraries though, I imagine this would only work if you could organise the links in some way. Just seeing a list of people's favourite sites may appeal if you have time to browse and like the serendipitous approach, but this isn't something I will use. However, Pushnote is only in Beta so perhaps this facility to organise your favourites may be added later. Personally, I would rather share information and learn about useful websites via Twitter and blogs. A useful feature of Pushnote then, is that you can share your favourites via Twitter and Facebook.

For me, the most interesting part of Pushnote is the browser extension, so that you if you come across a website you can click on the Pushnote icon and see how users have rated a site.

Overall, a mixed review from me. Some useful features, and I'm sure some people will enjoy using it, but it's not something I can see myself using at the moment.