A socio-semantic system has a continuous process of eliciting crucial knowledge of a domain through semi-formal ontologies, taxonomies or folksonomies.
Socio-semantic web was coined by Manuel Zacklad and Jean-Pierre Cahier in 2003[citation needed] and used in the field of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).
[3] In Chapter 6, he defines the socio-semantic web as relying on "the pace-layering of ontologies, taxonomies, and folksonomies to learn and adapt as well as teach and remember."
The socio-semantic web may be seen as a middle way between the top-down monolithic taxonomy approach like the Yahoo!
There are various possible social approaches for solving the problems of user driven ontology evolution for the semantic web.