NOTE: This is a quick ‘what is’ writeup about a great site called StumbleUpon. I’m writing this because I have not been able to find a good online resource that explains what StumbleUpon is from a REGULAR WEB USER perspective, rather than a blogger or webmaster perspective, which there are lots of. And oh, you can buy traffic from StumbleUpon too.
What is a Stumbler?
A ‘Stumbler’ is someone who uses the StumbleUpon toolbar to find, rate and review great new websites.
What is StumbleUpon?
What StumbleUpon is:
- a website/tool for easily and quickly finding great new sites in categories YOU specify
- once at the new site, you can rate it as ‘good’ (thumb up) or ‘bad’ (thumb down)
- StumbleUpon learns your preferences and starts delivering you sites more to your liking
It’s also a great way to weed out bad sites from the system, so other users don’t have to view them. You’ll find much higher quality and quantity of sites to your liking than a simple search engine like Google can deliver to you (more on that later).
How Does StumbleUpon Work?
- StumbleUpon lets you download and install their special toolbar in your browser
- once installed, you select which categories you want to view
- then you just ‘click the Stumble! button’
- and VIOLA! …a highly rated new site appears in your browser!
- you can rate it by giving it a thumb up or thumb down with ‘I like it!’ buttons
Does this new site catch your attention? Will you rate it? Will you click ‘Stumble!’ again and find another new site? The choice is up to you. You can also write a review of a site you like, so other Stumblers can visit your list of Stumbled sites, read your reviews, and more.
Why Is StumbleUpon Better Than Google?
Of course, this is just my opinion, and you didn’t ask for it, but you’re still reading, so here it is:
- Google uses a mathematical algorithm to determine where a website ranks in the search results. Mathematical algorithms can be ‘gamed’ or ‘tricked’ by unscrupulous webmasters, and, they can also be faulty. ‘Faults’ happen because;
- the website has to be included in the search engine ‘index’ in order to show up in search results - not all sites are indexed, and,
- not all webmasters or bloggers code their websites to meet the stringent coding guidelines set forth to meet the requirements of the search engine algorithm - this does not mean the site is not good.
- StumbleUpon relies on a combination of a simple algorithm and VIEWER RATINGS, which cannot be ‘gamed’. Quite simply, the meat of it is… that when taking an average over a large number ratings, a more accurate quality index is developed. IE: If 900 out of 1000 people who rate a website, rate it as ‘good’, there’s a very good chance the website is a good website (in it’s specific category). So, at StumbleUpon, websites are delivered by a human rating factor, which is MUCH MORE ACCURATE than a simple, trick-able, mathematical formula.
Now you know what StumbleUpon is! Download the StumbleUpon Toolbar here.
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What is StumbleUpon? …What is a Stumbler?
4 Comments »
I am techie and cannot understand StumbleUpon. It’s toolbar is so non-intuitive, and it just seems like it throws up random sites. Plus, I think it crashed my browser a few times. I just don’t understand how it can help drive traffic to my blog, but I’ll keep playing with it.
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