Buzka: Social Bookmarking With a Business Function

buzka.pngPerth, Western Australia based Buzka is a social bookmarking site with a business function.

I caught up with Buzka team earlier this week and the first thing they said to me was Buzka was like De.licio.us. Whilst I felt like groaning, I soon discovered that whilst sharing features typical of the social bookmarking crowd, Buzka offers something different.

Buzka comes with the usual trimmings. Sites can be bookmarked using a Firefox or Internet Explorer plugin, and bookmarks can be made public or private.

The way bookmarks are presented though is a notable point of difference. Users are able to create “spots” which look like a directory tree. Folder style groupings can be created and labeled to suite. Bookmarks can be dragged and dropped under each labeled folder.

Where as most social bookmarking pages display external sites in a new window or in place of the original bookmark list, sites bookmarked in Buzka are displayed in a right hand frame, with the original bookmark list staying open in a left panel.

Buzka has a business function. The company already has a number of co-branding deals that allow businesses to easily bookmark and share sites that may be of interest to their readers. West and Radiestates use the frame based “spots” complete with corporate branding. A non-branded version is available at no cost.

It’s difficult to promote any product from the geographic isolation of Western Australia, let alone a service looking to compete in social bookmarking. And yet isolation can promote creative thinking. Innovative Web 2.0 startups Scouta, Perthnorg and Minti all hail from the State and now Buzka can be added to that list.
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