Why collections always become unmanageable

The problem is not that people are disorganized. It is that saving is frictionless and organizing takes effort — so the collection grows faster than any system can keep up with. Add in the fact that most tools used for this (browser bookmarks, cloud drives, notes apps) provide no structure for this specific use case, and the result is inevitable: a pile of links with no context.

Folders vs. tags: which actually works

Most people default to folders because that is how file systems work. Folders are fine for a small collection with clear, non-overlapping categories. Beyond that, they break down quickly.

The problem with folders is that a video can only live in one place. If you have a folder structure by category, you cannot also browse by creator or by site without duplicating entries or creating a parallel structure that immediately gets out of sync.

Tags solve this. A single saved video can carry multiple tags — and you can filter by any combination of them. The same entry appears in "favourites", a category tag, and a creator tag simultaneously, without being duplicated or manually sorted into multiple places.

A tag-based system with a few consistent tag types scales indefinitely. A folder hierarchy becomes unwieldy past three levels and impossible to maintain consistently past fifty items.

A practical tag structure that works at any size

You do not need an elaborate taxonomy. A simple set of tag types, applied consistently, is enough to make any collection browsable:

Start with category and favourites. Add creator tags only when you notice you have enough from the same person that it matters. Keep the total number of distinct tags small enough that you can remember them without a lookup table.

Visual browsing changes everything

The single biggest upgrade from a URL list to a proper collection manager is thumbnails. When every saved video has a preview image, browsing a collection of 500 items takes the same amount of time as browsing 50. You can identify what you want in a glance rather than clicking through links one by one.

This is why browser bookmarks and notes apps always fail at scale: they store text, not visual references. A tool built for managing saved video links will fetch and store a thumbnail at save time, so your collection remains browsable as it grows.

The one habit that makes any system work

Organization fails when the act of saving is separate from the act of tagging. If every save dumps into a single untagged inbox that you plan to sort "later", later never comes. The collection grows, the inbox becomes overwhelming, and organizing it becomes a project rather than a habit.

The fix is to tag at save time. The moment you save something, add one or two tags — it takes five seconds and means you never face a backlog. A collection organized consistently from the start stays organized at any size.

Tag when you save. This is the only rule that matters. Everything else — the specific tags you use, the categories you define — can evolve. The habit of tagging at save time cannot be retrofitted onto a thousand untagged entries.

Migrating an existing mess

If you already have a large, unorganized collection of saved links, a full migration is rarely worth it. Instead:

The goal is a collection you can actually use, not a complete archive. A smaller, well-organized library is more valuable than a large unnavigable one.