Pearltrees - Bookmarks, Evolved

Pearltrees image via Sam Diaz @ ZDNet

Pearltrees is a way to visualize your bookmarks, explore content from like-minded people, and connect with them. 

Web bookmarks have been around since 1993, when they were first incorporated into browsers and are usually organized in folders.  With social bookmarking, people began to use this tool to share interesting content with others, independently of browsers. 

Where location-based programs such as and Loopt and Foursquare (which I’m going to post about sometime this week) allow users to connect with each other over location, Pearltrees connects you with people on a much deeper level because you’ll be able to follow their digital stream of consciousness, and then share it.

The service has an element of game play to it, as it the user is visualized as the center of his/her own “web universe”, (a blank canvass, if you will) to populate as s/he sees fit.  Instead of scrolling down a list of links, users create and populate “pearltrees”.

Once you sign up (basic) you’re good to go – start creating pearltrees and adding pearls from all over the web.  You can do a few or as many as you want at a time – my first is a “Digital Thinker” tree which I’ll populate with relevant links from my blog roll and additional ones.  It’s a bit tricky to use at first, but once you play around with it for a little, you get the hang of it.

You can also explore other people’s pearls and pearltrees, viewing a preview of each site as well that user’s comments without leaving the page.  There’s also a number of share options, encouraging a viral loop.

Pearltrees is currently in Alpha and the possibilities for this are endless.  ReadWriteWeb interviewed Pearltree’s CEO, Patrice Lamothe, who said that the company will release and enhancements on an ongoing basis. She mentioned the potential of a touch product, in particular. 

I love this idea because it’s both a visual way to organize online behavior, as well as a way to discover other people and content to add to an online media diet. 

Watch this video to learn more (the voice is a bit intimidating, but it's a nice intro)!