The estimated reading time for this post is 4 minutes
Do you channel surf on tv? Do you crave a remote control with a button you could click to discover new shows you love? Wouldn’t you buy a remote control that knows what types of shows you like and takes you to those kinds of shows? If you didn’t like a show, just press the button again to get a new show you might like better.
If that sort of remote control appeals to you, check out StumbleUpon, a website that helps you discover new websites based upon your individual preferences. Think of Google as a search engine that suggests websites based upon search terms you enter. StumbleUpon is a discovery engine that takes you to websites based on your interests. Think of StumbleUpon as a tool for exploration, a source of knowledge and an addictive time-waster.
To get started, go to stumbleupon.com. An account isn’t necessary, but I suggest you sign up to discover websites in your areas of interest. Register with your email address and choose a user name. You can connect to friends through Facebook, Twitter and your email contacts. Then choose your interests from a list of categories and subcategories. Don’t spend too long on this at first, you can always add to the categories later.
Make sure you select Photography as an interest, you’ll find it as a subcategory under Science/Technology (which, being a Wonder of Tech reader, you would have selected Science/Technology anyway!) or Popular Topics. Even if you’ve never taken a picture in your life, you should still select Photography to see the amazing images shared on StumbleUpon.
After you have selected a few categories, click on the yellow Start Stumbling button and let the fun begin!
When you use StumbleUpon, a StumbleUpon toolbar appears at the top of your screen. Make sure to click on the thumbs up or thumbs down button on the toolbar to vote on the sites you visit with StumbleUpon. This helps StumbleUpon learn your interests so you can discover new favorite websites. (Note: I’m a big fan of sites that learn my interests to steer me in the right direction, such as Pandora radio and Zite.)
The toolbar also lets you share a site on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and via email. You can see others’ StumbleUpon reviews of sites and leave your own review. You can also use the toolbar to revisit your favorites (the sites where you voted a thumbs up). This is handy so you don’t have to bookmark each site you like, because chances are you will like a lot of sites.
I enjoy going to the reviews, not only to see what other people have commented, but also because the sidebar of the review pages suggests other similar pages you might like. Are you beginning to see how very addictive StumbleUpon can be? To convince you further, I am posting this fun video I found on StumbleUpon as I was researching this blog post:
I hope every day goes that well for you!
StumbleUpon also has mobile apps for Android, iPhone and iPad. As much as I love StumbleUpon as a website on my computer, I’m not a big fan of StumbleUpon as a mobile app. First, a lot of the sites are difficult to read on the smaller screen of a phone. Second, the StumbleUpon app uses a lot of memory so can slow down a phone unless you manually close the app.
The apps are free and available from the iTunes app store and the Android Market. Here is the QR code [see, QR Codes: The Next Great Tech (You Haven’t Heard Of Yet)] for the app in the Android Market:
For easy access to StumbleUpon when you’re on your computer, check out the Add-ons for StumbleUpon on Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. (See, Fun With Browsers! for an explanation of Add-ons.) These Add-ons put a StumbleUpon toolbar on your computer screen so you can vote thumbs up or thumbs down on any website you visit, share the website with friends, or start stumbling immediately. Unless you use StumbleUpon constantly and have a lot of extra screen space, I wouldn’t recommend having a StumbleUpon toolbar on your screen. Don’t worry, when you are on the StumbleUpon website the toolbar will appear automatically.
Now that you know about StumbleUpon, look for the StumbleUpon icon on websites you visit. If you like a site, click on the StumbleUpon icon to share the site with others and to refine your preferences. At the bottom of this blog is a StumbleUpon icon, in between the Print and Google icons. If you click on the icon, you will let StumbleUpon know that you like this blog post and recommend it to others who have similar interests.
Let us know in the comments below if you try StumbleUpon and discover any sites you want to share with other Wonder of Tech readers!
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* Photo by Fugitive247
I just love Stumble Upon! Its really addictive tho. I can spend hours on that site and not even know it! I like photography too, but my favorite catagory is Bizarre/Oddities. That has the coolest sites!
Hi Gigi, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! I agree, the Bizarre/Oddities category is a great one to check to discover cool websites. Here is a link to a site you might like from the Bizarre/Oddities category: 10 Creepy Beautiful Modern Ruins.
Wow. Stumble Upon is awesome! I just signed up.
First Pandora, now Stumble Upon, this recommend/review technology is fantastic. I can’t wait to discover other sites with the same concept.
Hi Mojito Momma, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I am so happy you are enjoying the blog. Sites that tailor themselves to your interests are rapidly becoming fan favorites. The Wonder of Tech will keep you posted on other sites you will enjoy!
Hi Carolyn,
I have been using StumbleUpon for a while, and I think it’s brilliant.
The only problem I have with it, is that I am receiving a lot of spam from people sending sites via the toolbar. But, I guess I can just edit the settings and I won’t receive it, so it’s no problem really 🙂
– Jens
Hi Jens, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I agree, I love how the toolbar in StumbleUpon can be edited to make according to your wishes. The site developers have done a great job in making sure your experience with the site is the best it can be.
Hi Carolyn
What a great explanation of how to get the most out of StumbleUpon. I have used it a few times when I have stumbled posts I really found helpful.
Do notice when my posts are stumbled that there is a spike in traffic. Don’t know if these people read my posts or not. Or if they come to get information, look for products or what?!
Thanks for sharing with us Carolyn. Enjoyed the post.
Patricia Perth Australia
Hi Patricia, Welcome back to the Wonder of Tech! I have been getting daily spikes in traffic from StumbleUpon since I started posting my blogs on the website. But the stumblers do seem to visit without commenting so, other than the traffic spike, I would never have known that they visited!
Thank you for the kind words about the blog post. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hey Carolyn,
I agree, what a great explanation of how to use it to benefit us all. I admit, I don’t use it like I should. I just get so busy doing other things that I forget sometimes… But like other things I’m working on this year, being more active there is on that list. So thanks for that reminder. I needed that!
Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! No worries, I know you’re very busy running a successful blog and helping out other bloggers as well. StumbleUpon is a useful way to discover other websites and get your own website discovered as well. Imagine the lucky visitors who StumbleUpon your site!
I appreciate your kind words about my blog, I’m very glad you found it helpful.
Thanks for the great article Carolyn!
Just read the whole thing and noticed you mentioned that “an account isn’t necessary” to stumble. Would like to point out that an account is in fact necessary – just to avoid misleading users – and we ask you to create an account right away or after the first 3 stumbles or so. We need to know your age, gender and interests in order to provide the best and most personalized recommendations for you.
Hope this helped!
Best,
Monica
StumbleUpon Community Manager
Hello Monica, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Thank you so much for correcting my error. In researching this blog post, I saw that you could stumble without an account, but I didn’t realize that there was a limit to the number of stumbles without an account. Of course, it’s so easy to get hooked and the experience is so much better with an account, it’s hard to imagine anyone not wanting to register for an account with StumbleUpon!
This blog post was very challenging to write as I kept getting distracted in stumbling around your site! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the blog post, I appreciate your kind comment and the clarification of StumbleUpon’s policy for Wonder of Tech readers.
Heard about StumbleUpon but never knew what it really was about. Addicted now!
p.s. That video is so cool!
Hi Remmie, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech. I agree, StumbleUpon is a very addictive site. I often find my self saying, “Just one more site…” and the next thing I know, it’s an hour later!
I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I wonder how long it took them to film those tricks!