Stumble On

I have recently become a stumbler through StumbleUpon.com. I have a cautious approach to new technology. I enjoy finding them and playing with them but I am not that interested in adding more to my online experience. I am trying to simplify my online environment and adding plugin after plugin or toolbars or widgets is a waste of time and a good way to muddle up my computer screen and browser.

But when I came across a blog post about using web 2.0 tools to be more efficient with your information I took the plunge using StumbleUpon (SU). I am cautiously hooked. SU takes a set of personal preferences and with a click of a button starts feeding you websites that match your preferences. If you like the website you can rate it with a thumbs up and if you dislike it you can rate it with a thumbs down. Sites that have not been rated before will open up a box for you to review the site for other Stumblers. By consistently rating the sites that you see you set the pattern for the type of sites that will be fed to you in the future.

The best use of this for me is combining SU with Del.icio.us. When SU sends me a site that I think will be helpful for personal use or for library use I will tag the site in Del.icio.us for future reference. The amount of great library sites that I have found through SU is tremendous.

The aspect that I have not totally grasped is how to use SU to locate the best sites on a particular subject like you would using Google. You can go to SU and do a keyword search but I assume that the value of the site is based on Stumbler reviews which would limit the options because of a potential for many sites not being reviewed.

When using any search engine I often get the feeling that many times there is an "on the nose" website that is just beyond my grasp. SU seems to feed you quality websites and your ability to rate the sites instantly customizes what comes next. I am still in the "new toy" phase of using SU but I don't foresee myself eliminating this tool anywhere in the near future.