Here's something to "stumble" upon...

You probably thought the Internet had everything.  But wait, there’s been another development. Now there’s a host site that refers you to various websites based upon your interests.  StumbleUpon is an online social networking site that is aimed at providing a sense of an open forum as users have the ability to critique websites, online photos, and online videos.  Upon creation of an account, the user is prompted to choose his/her preferences of activities or hobbies based on a given checklist.  By clicking the “Stumble!” button on the StumbleUpon search bar, the user is directed to websites catered to their chosen interests that friends and like-minded stumblers have recommended. 

 

StumbleUpon gives control to its fellow “stumblers” by allowing them to critique each site they’ve visited.  These critiques can include a thumbs up or a thumbs down.  If the user is so inclined, he/she may also choose to discuss the site’s merits and weaknesses on a discussion board.  However, the choices don’t stop there.  Users can also opt to send links to friends, prompting members to network to non-StumbleUpon members.

 

A relatively small site, it boasts a membership of over 3 million users.  Not to be outdone by the overload of other social networking sites today, StumbleUpon gives users the opportunity to create a brief profile about themselves that includes various facts about the individual including—yes, you guessed it—their relationship status.  To me, this site seems like just another website developer’s attempt to create the next “big thing.”  As a member (of one week), this site only seems beneficial if I wanted to spend hours leisurely surfing the web for entertainment.  Additionally, I would have a difficult time trusting my fellow stumblers’ opinions on websites for academic purposes.  While the fine art of aimlessly wandering from site to site has been around since the Internet was first developed, do web surfers need StumbleUpon’s assistance?  I foresee StumbleUpon as a development that won’t spark enough interest to even be considered a fad, and therefore disappear into the oblivion of dot coms.

   

So what is the point of this site filtering system?  StumbleUpon claims that their method of weeding through sites will help you “discover great content you probably wouldn't find using a search engine,” but do you feel this is the most effective way of browsing the web?  Better yet, what flaws can you foresee in using this website?  In what circumstances would this website be helpful?  As a planner, what useful information could you gather from this website and is there a more efficient method of gathering this information?

Posted by guest author, Jennifer Johnson. 

Comments

[V. Stephens]

So what is the point of this site filtering system? Target marketing, consumer driven, customized and personalized data distribution.

This seems a great way to find content of interest most directly; however, it is skewed in that it is filtered through the provider service and whatever agenda/sponsors they may cater to.

I would have some questions about privacy concerns.
But a lot of sites use this technique.
My gmail for example scans for key words in my emails and posts clickable ads on those topics on the side bar. Amazon suggests books and purchases based on my purchases. I have heard some print ads are driven based on previous purchases and expressed interests on surveys.

As a planner, it might be useful to gather information on what is popular in a particular area to note the current trends.

[Andrea Schneider]

Have any of you used StumbleUpon? My guess from reading what you've said, is no. I'm an avid user of StumbleUpon. As far as surfing for content, it really is a more efficient use of my time. I find things I never would have. For example, I just stumbled while writing this comment, and here's the first site I got (very cool):

Haha.nu, a lifestyle blogazine.
Today's post features some amazing creative and visually stimulating photography.

http://haha.nu/creative/creative-photos-by-chema-madoz

Several of us focusing on creative are regular stumblers and have come to regard the application as online crack. Aside from the addictive, fun nature of the app (not that crack is fun), StumbleUpon has helped me discover numerous new sites for inspiration and compelling content. I've specified my interests to things involving art, culture, design and technology so most of my hits are things I'm interested in. If I land on a page that I don't particularly like, I can give it an immediate thumbs down and hit stumble. I even have the StumbleUpon bar for my Firefox browser so I can stumble conveniently or on a whim.

As a user of the site, I'm not concerned about my privacy. I'm only giving the information I want to, and the ads featured on sites I visit don't bother me. The filtering system seems to work really well and has only gotten better as more people join and participate in the filtering process by assigning ratings and comments. StumbleUpon delivers on the promise that you'll find things you wouldn't normally find on the web (in an easy, fun, and quick way).

I think a planner could use the site as a "stumbler" to discover content or even sites and blogs related to new technologies or the industry. By tapping into the culture of the mass of things on the web, a planner also learns about people and interesting things.

[Molly Horner]

I have never heard about this site and think that it would be a gold mine for account planners. Not only does it reveal the user's top interest, it also could reveal how they feel about things they are not interested in. For example, if the user is looking at a website of interest and then comes across a site about something they are not interested in by means of a mashup or link or whatever, and he/she decided to critique/rank that site, then that information could be of great use to the account planner. It seems like knowing what your target consumer is into as well as knowing what they aren’t into could only be beneficial knowledge that could further help inspire the creatives.

I think this actually could be a trend for a while as people will be interested in finding all they can about their interests on the web. It seems to be one less step than Googling something because you don’t have to type in what you are interested in finding out; your profile already tracks it for you. I think that through the next decade or so we are going to continue to see a trend of people trying to come up with new search engine-type things that attempt to make searching easier. But I don’t know if any of them will stick, because how hard is it really to type in what you are looking for and browse through a couple of pages to find it?