Home Trunk.ly Adds Search and Curation to Social Bookmarking

Trunk.ly Adds Search and Curation to Social Bookmarking

The wake of the Delicious debacle has been very fruitful for a few other services that occupy a similar Web curation space. One that popped up in the comments in our original post on Delicious was Trunk.ly, which sounded promising for not only offering to collect the links users share on social networks, but to make them searchable. Saving a bunch of links on “library school” is one thing, but being able to parse them out and subdivide them by search, that is where the beauty of data curation lies.

Trunk.ly starts off by stating plainly that the nature of bookmarking is changing, that it’s now a “rolling social rumble of retweets, likes, favorites, sharing, commenting and general discussion… whenever you show some interest in a link by taking a social action on it (liking it, tweeting it), Trunk.ly is actively monitoring and sucks that link into your Trunk.”

Micah Vandegrift is ReadWriteWeb’s research intern and a Master’s student in Florida State University’s School of Library and Information Studies. Upon completion of the degree in May of 2011 Micah hopes to work as a technology consultant in the library, archive, museum world, bridging the gap between emerging technologies and cultural institutions. And someday found The National Museum of Indie Music and Culture. Follow Micah at trunk.ly/micahvandegrift and @micahvandegrift.

In a brief chat with CEO Tim Bull and CTO Alex Dong they described their vision for Trunk.ly as a “personal search engine.” Bull says, “We’ve got an aggressive roadmap that’s basically looking at all the ways you can share links with people – we want Trunk.ly to be there capturing those and storing them so you never lose a link again.”

The key difference between Trunk.ly and Delicious is that while tags are still around they are not as central to the service. The links that are imported via your social feeds are indexed inside Trunk.ly, meaning when I recall that I read an article about hamburgers two weeks ago, I can search for “hamburgers” and it’ll pop up! In addition to the search function, it also has a social aspect where users can follow one another and search across other user’s Trunks.

In comparison to a service like Pinboard, another curation app getting substantial buzz that offers similar features, the added bonus for Trunk.ly is not necessarily having to DO something (push a bookmarlet and add tags or descriptions) for it to grab links. After you connect whatever services you want to curate, Trunk.ly sucks the links in, there for your searching and referencing pleasure.

Trunk.ly actually launched much earlier than planned in response to the vacuum left by the probably loss of Delicious, and as of today, it’s currently revamping its service, adding servers and features, to account for the flood of traffic. They have plans to connect with other social services like Digg and StumbleUpon, open their API, and add RSS functionality, Chrome extensions and more. For a project that has only been in the works since October, and one that launched under the gun, these ambitions seem pretty, pretty plausible.

How does Trunk.ly compare with other curation Web apps? What experiences do you want or need from a bookmarking service?

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.