Tags vs Topics: structure vs emergence
Tags are ubiquitous nowadays and are used by adding a ’#’ symbol as a way to filter content by just clicking a tag, whereas topics are just blank notes that are created to link related contents, this makes a Bi-directional links between notes and their respective topics. Unlike rigid folder, when we add tags to a note, think of it as a way to put that note into different folders that we can always find doesn’t matter which folder we are in. Ask yourself this question to determine a tag, this note is a.
Examples: such as tutorial, recipe, idea, task, to-do, in-Progress, Done
Topic note on the other hand is a note about a broad topic, because it is a note, it can contain information such as a sub-topic. This is usually called a bottom-up approach because you can add more and grow your thinking by connecting the notes later rather than a traditional folder and chronologic structure. Every person will have their own system, it is important to start small and keep it simple.
Characteristics of Tags & Topic Notes
| Tags | Topic Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Pre-determined | Emergent |
| Organization | Folders | Clusters |
| Growth | Top-Down | Bottom-Up |
| Examples | note types, status, folder | Broad Concepts, Maps of Content |
| How to use | Search, sort | Connection and Backlinks |
| Versatility | Rigid | Flexible |
| Contain information | No | Yes |
Using Tags and Topics in Obsidian
Since tags and topics are two different concepts and does not contradict one another, I use both systems to structure my notes and my thinking. Tags with pre-determined structure will allow to organize the notes consistently as a top-down approach. Topic notes with its bottom-up approach, allowing me to connect the ideas as they grow, when the topics evolve over time, I can make sub-topics
How to use Tags
There are three main types of tags I use :
- Note-type tags
- Status tags
- In-line tags
Note Type
Note type indicates what “folder” this should be under, I use it for categories. This type of tag is used to automatically move my notes to a particular folder using Automover plugin in Obsidian.
Status
Status tag indicate what level or stage the note is in. In digital garden analogy, it could be seed, tree , fruit to show the level of a note.
A simple example is to-do, in-progress and done to indicate the completion level of a note.
This is the most common tag type in my opinion.
In-line
In-line tag is used in line to indicate a section of a note related to other category.
An example is idea in line like this, it will help you to find your ideas in a section of a long note easily.
A tag will tell you what that note contains instead of showing the connection to other related concepts in your systems.
Using Topic Notes
Tags can be used for topics as well but when you want to add more sub-topics under a topic, you will find tag limitation, it’s rigid, it can’t contain information. This is why I use topic notes, it’s flexible, you can put more sub-topics inside that topic note as your notes grow over time.
For example, a PKM topic note can contain other related sub-topics such as Note-Taking. This Note-Taking topic note has its own topic but also is linked to PKM major topic.
Over time, as the notes grow, with clusters of notes that are connected via topic notes, the dots will appear and can be viewed through the interactive graph in Obsidian and I can use it to identify the insights by linking the notes.
This is why it is called bottom-up method.
Map of Content (MoC)
As the topics will evolve over time when we broaden our knowledge into other knowledge domains, there will be clusters of Topic notes. Each of these topic notes is just a blank note, by adding related topics under a broader topic note, we can create a map of content For example, under PKM, I can include a backlink to a topic note Second Brain where I have information related to Obsidian or Notion or any other systems.
Remember the bottom-up approach
We create content before we can map of the contents