This is a bit off topic for this blog so I’ll keep it short and sweet.
Note: I’m not trying rip on other social sites and take a beat down from their supporters (even though I probably will regardless). I use and enjoy all the sites mentioned in this post. This is merely an expression of personal preference. Different strokes for different folks, or so they say.
1. No News - Or at least none if you aren’t looking for it. The news junkies own Digg and Reddit, where political and tech buzz stories dominate the front page. This is nothing new, but these stories all seem the same to me, and only 1 in 20 brings anything new to the table. I love to Stumble because I don’t have to go past the first page and into subtopics to find something interesting.
2. The Most Democratic Voting Process - While the other sites are dominated by buzz, I’ve found that Stumbling brings me the most quality sites. Because the voting process isn’t contingent on headlines, attention is based on content instead of sensationalism. The result is the cream of the crop rises to the top with less resistance.
3. No Work - No sifting through a page full of headlines trying to decide what to read. StumbleUpon makes it simple by sending you straight to a page it thinks you’ll like. It takes the middle man out, the middle man being your indecision, and the results are impressive. Even if you don’t like a site, a new alternative is a click away.
4. Wonderful Surprises - Does anyone else love the feeling of rolling the dice every time they hit the Stumble button? Nothing is better for finding something you like that you didn’t even know you liked. Whether you want something totally new or information about a specific topic, it leads to new resources that are outside your internet bubble.
Side note: Stumbling “photoshop tutorial” lead to many more quality results than an identical Google search.
5. A Pleasant Community - The Digg or Reddit users might not comment on a site, but they love to leave scathing comments back at the submission. I’m all for constructive disagreement, but from what I’ve seen, most of these people are just bitter. With StumbleUpon, these trolls don’t exist, or least they’re kept out of sight.
So there you have it. If you don’t already, you should start Stumbling. If you already do, then you know what I’m talking about.
Edit: I couldn’t resist adding this quick tip after it came to mind. It’s really simple, and a lot of you probably do it already, but I’ve found that using StumbleUpon in conjunction with del.icio.us is a great way to save your favorite stumbles and return to them later. Whenever I want to build a collection of resources, for say Photoshop or Wordpress, I just stumble those keywords and use del.icio.us to tag all the best finds. This is the easiest way to build a great collection of resources. You have to love it when separate tools work together.
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
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You just got stumbled. I wonder what the stumble upon community will have to say about you speaking so nicely about them? Hm??? Oh yes, the stumble upon community doesn’t communicate. =)
They communicate with their thumbs.
Perhaps they are a more evolved form of being?
“Perhaps they are a more evolved form of being?”
Naw. Just a bunch of people with too much free time and good manners.
Nice blog btw.
*thumbs up*
Thanks Justin, and you’re definitely right about the free time. I read on one person’s blog (can’t remember who) that they had to remove the tool bar from their work computer because it was too much of a distraction.
I agree with this article - and I gave it a Thumbs Up as well - But you can also read and write reviews about this page as well giving the “Community” more info. Similar to what you do when you Stumble A Page for the first time that was not listed in StumbleUpon. I think this whole concept is like this other blog entry by a friend of mine BiggAndyy - And that StumbleUpon is like the Remote Control for the internet user. Changing Channel one page at a time. Here is his article –> http://www.biggandyy.com/2007/02/14/channel-surfing-the-world-wide-web-the-stumble-effect/
interesting read and what effect this stumble has on a website.
Thanks for the recommendation, that’s a cool article. I love the ‘Changing the Channel’ analogy. I wish I thought of that myself.
problem is John: it’s too addictive & b4 you know it, you’ve stumbled off into the weeds & who gives a damn about the bloody GTD… just one more click on the Stumble! button :-/
I just stumbled this site
Ive been housebound for the last two months. my bestest discovery has been stumbleupon. its magical. “The sites I’ve seen”…isnt that a song from somewhere. like others I stumbled upon this one and subsequently subscribed. I even blogged about the phenomena too www.weebeef.blogspot.com
keep up the good work John and stumble on to my site sometime. You’ll be more than welcome
[…] 5 Reasons StumbleUpon is the Coolest Social Site […]
I agree entirely. I have been using stumble for a while now and have definitely learned how to communicate via my thumbs.
i just stumbled this site too. HAHA, i love it. i was JUST thinking about how much i loved stumbleupon (cause a Real Life friend introduced me to it the other day) and how much better i thought it was than digg, because i found more interesting things. honestly, i was thinking about how i felt as though i was surfing the internet with like minded people. we are really onto something, we 21st century people, aren’t we? yes, i do believe we are…
You are right. But I think you know that.
Sometimes its just nice to stumble
I love stumbleupon. It’s like flipping the remote control except instead of tv it’s the Internet.
Great with morning coffee.
Once I got over the obsessive stage, Stumbleupon has been a lot of fun for me. My friends are always asking how I find the time to come up with the sites I’ve stumbledupon whether instructional, humorous or just bizarre but they’ve managed not to check the site out for themselves. The occasional nice comments fellow stumblers leave in my Inbox are a bonus.
You’re preaching to the converted!
I recently went through the same thought process in a comparison of Digg and StumbleUpon — the two social networks I use the most. Guess which service one
http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/blog/?p=285
It’s funny, this post got popular on StumbleUpon a month after I wrote it.
If anyone wants to be friends this is my account: http://pickthebrain.stumbleupon.com/
Friend me and I’ll friend you back.
LOL!
I just got stumbled to this site… Coincidence?
I think not.
Can’t resist the stumling!
Just one more and then I promise I am done.
Matt M, don’t fool yourself. You will Stumble more. Its an addiction like chocolate.
I enjoyed your article and also stumbled my way here. Nothing better than a five minute stumble break to relieve a little tension in the middle of a hard day. =)
i like using stumbleupon toolbar.. stumbleupon is the best truelly..
i was also stumbled to this site..
You know, this hits precisely on what was bothering me about many of the popular Web 2.0 sites out there, from Digg to Newsvine. It was all too news oriented, too crowded with polemic commentators who loved to stir up the pot, that it just proved to be a turn off for me. StumbleUpon takes me away from all that, and back to the good old days of web surfing.
Yes Stumble Upon is the best thing to happen to the Internet since Google even better..
Point #4, wonderful surprises, is what I like most about StumbleUpon. There are times when I find a site and I feel as if I struck gold. Yes, the site was there all along, but S.U. presented a way for me to find it that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.
Well said.
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[…] 5 Reasons StumbleUpon is the Coolest Social Site […]
Just one more stumble. LOL! Ok, for real….just one more. Boy do I know that feeling. It’s like Lays potato chips….can’t do just one!