Unlike file sharing, own resources are not reported, only bookmarks refer to them.

The description can be added as metadata bookmarks, so that users can understand the content of the resource without downloading themselves. The description can be free text comments, vote for or against the quality or tags mixed together or become a folksonomy. Folksonomy social tagging also called "the process by which many users add metadata in the form of keywords to shared content."

In social bookmarking system, users save links to websites that they want to remember and / or share. these bookmarks are usually public, and be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or any combination of public and private. People can usually see bookmarks allowed chronologically, by category or tags, or through a search engine.

Most social bookmark encourage service users to configure their informal tags bookmarks based traditional browser of folders system, although some features or a combination of services and categories/folders tags folders. Also see related bookmarks tag allow selected, and includes information on the number of users to a bookmark. Some services also draw conclusions from the social bookmarking tags relationship to create groups or tags bookmarks.

Many web services provide information for bookmarks lists, including lists organized by tags. This enables customers to realize new bookmarks as stored, shared and tagged by other users.

As these services have matured and grown more popular, they have added extra features such as ratings and comments bookmarks, the ability to import and export of browsers bookmarks, bookmarks emails, explanation of the web, and has groups or social networking issues.

The concept of shared online bookmarks goes back to April 1996 launch itList features including public and private bookmarks. In the next three years., Online bookmark services be competitive, with venture-backed companies like Backflip, Blink, clip2 , ClickMarks, direct links, and others on the market. They are provided to regulate bookmarks folders, and some folders services bookmarks automatically classified (with varying degrees of accuracy). Blink includes a navigation button to save bookmarks; bookmarks backflip allows users to send an email to someone else and displayed "Backflip this page" on partner sites. Fewer viable revenue model, the first generation of the company social bookmarking not like the bursting of the dot-com - Backflip closed because of "economic problems in the early 21". In 2005, the founder of blink said, "I do not think it was that they were" too soon "or turned off when the bubble burst. I think everyone who comes to product design, and for some small differences in approach. "

Founded in 2003, Delicious (then called del.icio.us) tagging bookmarking pioneered and created by social length. In 2004, to begin to roll off services tasty as Reddit and was released, along with CiteULike and Connotea (sometimes called citation social services) and the related recommendation system Stumbleupon. In 2006, Ma.gnolia (later renamed Gnoli) Blue Dot (later renamed favorites), Mama Wong, and entered the field bookmarking Diigo, and Connectbeam tagging social bookmarking and other services for businesses and the company. In 2007, IBM launched Lotus Connections product. In 2009, Pinboard bookmarking Bulletin Board launched as a service with a paid account. Since 2011, Furl, Simpy, and services Gnolia favorite is no longer active.

Digg was founded in 2004 with the system related to movement and news editions social range, followed Newsvine Reddit 2006.