What if there was a site that could predict everything you wanted to see on the Internet? StumbleUpon is a social network that helps you discover unique and interesting things across the Web. So what is StumbleUpon, exactly? StumbleUpon is basically a discovery engine of entertainment that recommends photography, art, humor, fashion, sports, technology and just about every other topic you can think of.
Navigating StumbleUpon feels like surfing a Web where every incoming WiFi wave feels tailor-made just for you. All you have to do is tell StumbleUpon a few things you like (and a couple things you don’t), and it will learn your preferences to start feeding you interesting content.
What makes StumbleUpon so cool is that every time you use it, you end up on an epic journey through webpages you may have never found without the help of the tool. We’ve found everything from must-see astrophotography to classic infographics.
Besides bringing you awesome webpages, StumbleUpon allows you to submit webpages you’ve enjoyed, follow people and interests, see what your friends have shared, browse popular trending posts, photos and videos and create lists of pages you like.
StumbleUpon also offers a Paid Discovery system for advertisers, and content marketers have taken notice. According to Shareaholic‘s Social Media Traffic report from late 2013, StumbleUpon accounted for more publishing traffic than popular sites like YouTube, Google, LinkedIn and Reddit combined.
Using the Stumble Button and Toolbar
Ready to stumble across some interesting new webpages? You can explore recommended content by visiting StumbleUpon.com/home, which presents a grid of pages you might be interested in based on topics you like.
At the top of the page you’ll find a toolbar called the StumbleBar which, among other elements, contains the Stumble Button. Clicking this button is kind of like pressing a “next” button. Every time you click it, StumbleUpon will load a new webpage for you.
Along with the Stumble Button, in the StumbleBar you’ll also find thumbs up and thumbs down buttons for rating pages. You’ll want to use these buttons to help StumbleUpon better understand your interests so it can recommend you even cooler content.
Outside the StumbleUpon homepage, the StumbleBar is also available as a Chrome extension, a Firefox add-on and as an app for Android, iOS and Windows 8. Using one of these downloads will give you access to the StumbleBar everywhere you go on the Web.
StumbleUpon History
StumbleUpon was founded in November 2002 by entrepreneurs Garrett Camp, Geoff Smith, Justin LaFrance and Eric Boyd. The site was acquired by eBay in 2007 for approximately $75 million and then sold back to several of the original founders in 2009. In April 2012 StumbleUpon announced it had surpassed 25 million registered users, and today it’s one of the top 150 most visited sites on the Web according to Alexa.
Have you ever Stumbled through StumbleUpon? What do you think about the site?
Republished by permission. Original here.
