Whether you know the term social bookmarking or not, you’ve probably already engaged in the process repeatedly. Social bookmarking sites may make it easier to share bookmark s, but there are other ways to share.

If you’ve ever sent someone an email or instant message telling them to check out a specific URL then you’re a social bookmarker. However, taking a bookmark to an email or instant messaging service or even to a social media site like Facebook or Twitter, may be a great way to pass on the information, but it isn’t a great way to organize bookmarks. Not for you and not for those you’re sharing with.

Social bookmark sites bring together the elements of sharing with tools for organization. They allow you to put all your bookmarks in one place, those you find through social media, from surfing, from forums or messaging and put them in one place. They usually have an easy way for you to upload all the bookmarks in your web browser as well — even if you have multiple computers and browsers. Once your bookmarks are in one place, you can organize them by tagging the subject matter and some sites allow you to create separate lists or folders based on larger categories. All of this organization makes it easier for you to find a specific bookmark when you can’t remember whether it came to you from surfing at work, an email from your sister or a post on someone’s myspace page. More importantly, friends and other users can search for bookmarks by tags and categories from not just their bookmarks but also yours — and those of other users of the site. All organized by subject and popularity .