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New York Times Cites Digg, Del.icio.us In Shutdown Of Its Bookmarking Service

Earlier this afternoon, The New York Times issued an e-mail to all users that it's shutting down its Times-branded bookmarking service (Times File). The e-mail (shown below) cites the proliferation of social bookmarking sites like Digg and Delicious in its decision to eliminate the offering. The e-mail goes on to say that a process has been established to help existing Times File users move all of their bookmarks into LookSmart's Furl bookmarking service (the technology on which Times File is based).

Few if any online media properties run their own bookmarking service and the rationale for establishing one in the first place could be easily questioned (it's not like Digg and Delicious are anything new).

But the move also calls into the question the longer-term challenges that all media properties will face as Internet users demonstrate their willingness to rely on different domains for different types of functionality rather than seeking out one-stop shops that offer it all under one roof (content, bookmarking, community, etc.). Given the way today's browsers, RSS readers, and social networks like FriendFeed work, there's pretty much no friction to taking the potpourri approach. How will media outlets deal?

Here's the e-mail:

Thank you for being a loyal user of NYTimes.com and Times File, the tool that allows you to save articles from NYTimes.com and other Web sites. (On NYTimes.com, Times File is the "Save" option that appears on the top right area of most of our article pages.)

We wanted to inform you that, as of Dec. 22, 2008, we are
removing the ability to save articles to Times File from
NYTimes.com pages, and on Jan. 21, 2009, we are removing
Times File from the site entirely. Social-bookmarking sites
like Delicious and Digg, which can be accessed through our
Share tools, have proliferated since the creation of Times
File. This changing Web landscape has resulted in the
decision to divert resources from Times File to other areas
of NYTimes.com.

We realize that our removing Times File may be an
inconvenience, so we have worked out an option to keep your
saved pages.

Times File is powered by LookSmart technology. If you'd like
to keep the pages you have already saved using Times File,
we've created a process allowing you to easily transfer all
of your saved pages to LookSmart's online-bookmarking tool,
Furl. This way, the pages you've saved will still be
available through your new Furl account.

To begin the transfer of your saved pages from Times File to
Furl, please click the link below and follow the
instructions:

http://www.furl.net/members/nytlanding

Whether you wish to transfer your saved pages to Furl or not,
Times File will be removed from our site on Jan. 21, 2009,
and you will no longer be able to access your account through
Times File. Jan. 21 will also be the last day to transfer
your account to Furl.

To view your currently saved Times File pages, please click
the link below:

http://timesfile.nytimes.com/view.jsp

We value you as a loyal user of NYTimes.com and hope that you
enjoy our many other current and upcoming features. If you
have questions or concerns about the removal of Times File,
please contact our Customer Service team at help@nytimes.com
or visit our Times File FAQ at
http://www.nytimes.com/membercenter/faq/timesfile.html.

Thank you,

The New York Times

ABOUT THIS E-MAIL
-------------------------------------------------------------
This is a one-time, service announcement e-mail for our
Times File users. As a member of the BBBOnline Privacy
Program and the TRUSTe privacy program, we are
committed to protecting your privacy.
http://www.nytimes.com/privacy

NYTimes.com
620 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10018

Copyright 2008 The New York Times

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