Stumble Upon

About StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is an Internet community that allows its users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos. It is a personalized Recommendation engine“ which uses peer and “Social networking” principles.

Web pages are presented when the user clicks the “Stumble!” button on the browser’s toolbar. StumbleUpon chooses which Web page to display based on the user’s ratings of previous pages, ratings by his/her friends, and by the ratings of users with similar interests. Users can rate or choose not to rate any Web page with a thumbs up or thumbs down, and clicking the Stumble button resembles “channel-surfing” the Web. StumbleUpon also allows their users to indicate their interests from a list of nearly 500 topics to produce relevant content for the user. There is also one-click “Weblog” blogging built in as well.

Toolbar versions exist for Firefox,  Mozilla Application Suite, and Internet Explorer, but StumbleUpon also works with some independent Mozilla-based browsers. Third party toolbars have also been created for Safari, Opera and Google Chrome. 

StumbleUpon was owned by eBay from May 2007, when it was acquired for $75,000,000, until April 2009, when two of the founders, backed by investors, bought it back. (Wikipedia 2009)

From StumbleUpon.com/aboutus:

StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great websites. As you click Stumble!, we deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended by your friends or one of 8 million+ other websurfers with interests similar to you. Rating these sites you like automatically shares them with like-minded people – and helps you discover great sites your friends recommend.

How Does it Work?

StumbleUpon uses ratings to form collaborative opinions on website quality. When you stumble, you will only see pages that friends and like-minded stumblers have recommended. This helps you discover great content you probably wouldn’t find using a search engine.

 Searching vs. Stumbling:

Using search engines to locate relevant content typically means hunting through pages of results. Rather than searching for quality web sites, StumbleUpon members are taken directly to web sites matching their personal interests and preferences.

Combats Information Overload:

Information on the Internet changes rapidly. StumbleUpon is a dynamic approach to keep on top of this ever-evolving pool of knowledge. StumbleUpon filters through the vast amount of information on the web to direct Stumblers to high quality web sites which are relevant to their personal interests. An obscure but interesting site can be immediately shared with other like-minded users. Old or low-quality sites can be removed if their ratings become too low. The participation of community members helps maintain a database of the most up-to-date and highest quality sites possible.

People-Driven Technology:

Using a combination of human opinions and machine learning to immediately deliver relevant content, StumbleUpon presents only web sites that have been suggested by other like-minded Stumblers. Each time the ‘Stumble’ button is clicked, the user is presented with a high quality web site based on the collective opinions of other like-minded web surfers.

Easy to Use, Community-based surfing:

The StumbleUpon Toolbar is integrated with the user’s browser to allow for one-click access to quality web sites. A simple 2-level rating system gives users the opportunity to pass on or give their opinion on any webpage with a single click. These ratings also connect people sharing unique combinations of interests. Stumblers share their favorite web sites and interact with other users to further improve their web surfing experience.

A Personalized Browsing Tool:

StumbleUpon offers nearly 500 topics which users may choose to indicate their interests and preferences so each Stumble produces only the most relevant content. StumbleUpon delivers increasingly relevant content as the Toolbar learns what the user has liked in the past and continues to present quality web sites in the future.How to Get Started

1. Go to http://www.stumbleupon.com and you’ll see dialog box below. Click on “Sign up now.”    

Discover and share great websites with like-minded people 

2. Enter your email address and password and record them.

This brings you to the above screen.  Follow the 3 steps outlined, and you’re on your way.

Save your favorite sites and access them from anywhere

Step 1: Stumble sites that interest you

Step 2: Thumb-up the site you like

Step 3: That’s all Your favorites will be saved on this page automatically.