Ok well to quote del.icio.us on del.icio.us with running commentary [in between the brackets] :

del.icio.us is a collection of favorites - yours and everyone else's. ...

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website -- the primary use of del.icio.us is to store your bookmarks online, which allows you to access the same bookmarks from any computer and add bookmarks from anywhere, too. [It took needing to have access to my favorites from multiple computers before I would consider "going public" with my favorites. To help me feel a little bit less on display, I have many that are marked "do not share"] On del.icio.us, you can use tags to organize and remember your bookmarks, which is a much more flexible system than folders. [This is very true! Especially when you start combining tags in your searches. Like hmm Christmas+food]

You can also use del.icio.us to see the interesting links that your friends and other people bookmark, and share links with them in return. You can even browse and search del.icio.us to discover the cool and useful bookmarks that everyone else has saved -- which is made easy with tags.

.... Here are examples...

• Research - Writing an article? Researching .... Use del.icio.us to keep track of all the source materials and commentary that you find online. [If you highlight a sentence or two on the web site before you save it to del.icio.us, the highlighted portion will be saved, also -- but only a sentence or two.]
  
• Wishlist - Go to any commerce site, find what you like, save it to del.icio.us and tag it as wishlist. Then you can tell people to check out your wishlist bookmarks by giving them a link to http://del.icio.us/marillaanne/wishlist. [I didn't do that ... it was in the help file just like that.]
• Podcast - Want to hear some great podcasts? Visit the mp3+podcast tag combination and start listening. .... [I haven't tried this yet]
  
• Vacation - Planning a trip? Save links to hotels, activities, and transportation and use tags like "travel", "vacation", and "to-visit". [I moved a portion here to a more logical spot.]
  
• Linklog - Save bookmarks to interesting websites and add a bit of commentary to create a lightweight linklog. Then, use linkrolls or the daily blog posting feature to include your del.icio.us bookmarks on your blog or website. [I wonder who we know doing this to create her new "del.icio.us Thursday Thirteen." I guess we'll find out tomorrow ;~) ]
  
• Cookbook - Whenever you find a great recipe on a website, save it to del.icio.us. Tag it with the recipe's ingredients or style of cooking, and then when you're wondering what to make for dinner, you can use your saved bookmarks to help you remember the perfect recipe. [I've started saving them for Billy]
  
• Collaboration - Friends, coworkers, and other groups can use a shared account, special tag, or their del.icio.us networks to collect and organize bookmarks that are relevant -- and useful -- to the entire group -- complete with comments. [Those comments are very very handy when sending links.] [This is the portion I moved:] Collaborate with friends and family by using the "for:username" tag. [I share links with my middle child (the only pc oriented child that I have) and to my husband (Billy). I set up his account. He's still lame when it comes to using it but when he says "do you know where... , I tell him, "Look in your del.icio.us." The only bummer part about sharing is that you can't share with your network AND keep the link private.]

Ok so how do you get started?

First, go to del.icio.us and set up an account.

Second, download the tool bar accessories (very handy for one click saving /viewing of your del.icio.us faves) for FireFox or IE and then if you feel really lost read: a guide to saving bookmarks.

Third, send me links when you find something that is "Oh that's just so for:MarillaAnne." (Just for the record, right now, I'm not sharing my network list. I haven't heard that they want me to.)

Fourth, read this article by Brendon Connelly over at Slacker Manager: The Several Habits of Wildly Successful del.icio.us Users.

And Fifth, check your settings ... for some reason "Settings" is where you'll find great tools to help you create "linkrolls" and "tagrolls."

Just go slow. When you start to get comfy, explore your importing and exporting options (also in "settings"). Don't do any importing etc until you carefully read the instructions. The voice of experience over here says ... don't let it auto-assign any tags just make sure you have your faves already carefully organized.

There's one more quirk you need to know: when you type del.icio.us into your browser it must not have a "www" nor a ".com" near it ... it must appear just so: http://del.icio.us.

Alright I look forward to seeing what kind of fun ya'll have.