Why it’s not ok to ignore StumbleUpon anymore and 4 quick steps to embrace it

Aug 22, 11

Whether or not you've given StumbleUpon a thumbs up in the past, new research shows it needs to be on your radar. (Image credit: wow-womenonwriting.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever read something and been completely and totally shocked? I mean, that happens less and less these days because of the proliferation of information online. Or what you might call the Interwebs.

But it happened to me this weekend when I stumbled upon (sorry, that’s my sense of humor and I can’t help it) the fact that the social network StumbleUpon delivers half of U.S. social media traffic. I mean my jaw literally hit the ground. And then I got that “punched in the gut” feeling. It’s the feeling I get when I feel like I just found out a secret that isn’t really secret because everybody already knows it. For somebody who tries really hard to stay up on the latest trends, that feeling sucks.

So what did I do about it? Well, kicked myself a bit and then began integrating StumbleUpon into my online social presence, of course. Here are the steps I took if you too are looking to build your StumbleUpon cred:

1. Set up a StumbleUpon account. A tricky first step, I know. You have to do crazy things like go the StumbleUpon website and sign up. It really is super easy. They even have Facebook integration so you can just sign in with your Zuckerberg credentials and immediately connect with all your Facebook friends through the StumbleUpon interface.

2. Start stumbling. The idea of the site is fairly simple, but still takes a bit of getting used to as anything does. You’ll want to pick your areas of interests and then StumbleUpon will suggest things you might like. But the bigger advantage of the platform, as my friend Amy Taylor pointed out the other day,  is to look and see what your friends have recommended so far. That way, the platform basically becomes your own personalized Google. Which, if you think about it, Google is already trying to become with +1′s and social searching add-ons.

3. Add the StumbleUpon toolbar to your Internet browser. This is an absolute must. Because when I initially looked at StumbleUpon, I liked what I saw, but I also saw a big usability glitch. If I was going to have to go back to StumbleUpon.com every time I wanted to like something, this was going to be a pain in the butt. So I needed a way to bookmark the sites I liked when I was on them — see Facebook share and retweet buttons. The StumbleUpon toolbar is the answer. Download that sucker for your favorite browser and recommending a site is literally as easy as clicking the “I like it” button.

 

4. Get the StumbleUpon plugin for your blog. As is usually the case with blog plugins, there are probably multiple ways to skin a cat. I use WordPress, so I just searched the WordPress plugin database for the best StumbleUpon option and found this one — StumbleMe. There were some other options out there, but this one had the best look and feel without having to do much customization or coding. Once you install the plugin and activate it, you should have a new StumbleUpon social share button on your blog like the one I have now (see below).

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s all there is to it. You may have taken these steps a couple years back. And if so, my only question is: “Why didn’t you tell me about StumbleUpon?!?” Kidding of course. But seriously, this was a big wake-up call to me that maybe I’ve been ignoring content curation social networks like this one, Digg and Reddit too much in general.

What do you think? We’ll be discussing StumbleUpon and other curation platforms during Tuesday night”s #pr20chat on Twitter at 8 p.m. EST. Hope you can join us! How about a little pre-chat conversation in the comments?

14 Comments

  1. kamichat /

    Hey Justin;

    This is great info. Lots of people I have talked with say that while the traffic of SU is great, that it isn’t very “sticky,” meaning once people have stumbled by they rarely come back. I would love to hear other perspectives on this.

  2. @kamichat Thanks for stopping by kamichat . You just summarized exactly why I downloaded the toolbar. Because I don’t see myself going back to StumbleUpon.com hardly ever. But I will click the “I like it” button from time to time. So that will make it sticky for me, I think. But we’ll see :) .

  3. kamichat /

    @JGoldsborough Yes, and for the site owner it is even worse. You might LIKE my content (here’s hoping) but will you SUBSCRIBE, leave comments or come back? This Livefyre Tweet thing might help with that for you.

  4. Shelley Pringle /

    Thanks for sharing this info, Justin. We talked about the tool bar on #pr20chat last night and I didn’t understand what it did. All is crystal clear now! I mentioned a Forbes article on the chat and thought it would be worthwhile to post a link here as well. Apparently, not everyone is convinced about the traffic stats: http://goo.gl/QHaIS

  5. @kamichat Yep, you’re summarizing a challenge that won’t be going away anytime soon with the proliferation of social media. People have so many different “calls” for their time. How do we stand out. Even if they subscribe, today many are too busy to read.

    Think forming relationships with people online and offline makes them more likely to engage with us, our content. But I know it’s not scalable to build relationships with every potential reader. Tough issue. Maybe a discussion we can continue in a guest post or deep dive series down the road?

  6. @Shelley Pringle Hi, shellypringle . Thanks for stopping by and sharing the alternative perspective. Always important to paint the clearest picture possible. Really liked this SU story today, which kind of found a middle ground. It said integrate StumbleUpon into your online experience, but don’t go crazy. bit.ly/pzv6wT

  7. @kamichat Sorry for double comments, kamichat . But wouldn’t it be cool if StumbleUpon notified you when someone had liked your blog or other Web content and told you who it was. The tool would be a lot more useful if it took even that small step IMO. You?

  8. kamichat /

    @JGoldsborough Yes, I totally agree, that would be helpful. And yes, that could be a good focus for a series.

  9. Shelley Pringle /

    @JGoldsboroughshellypringle Thanks. I feel I’ve got a balanced view of SU now. It’s time to figure out an appropriate strategy now.

  10. PRCog /

    @mommyfactor thanks for the rt

  11. MommyFactor /

    @prcog of course :)

  12. joelfortner03 /

    I agree people need to give SU its due but I’m not convinced it’s a priority over Facebook and Twitter, for example, where a person/business has created a following or community. That’s where your target market is located so spend your time there. My suggestion is for people to watch web site bounce rates. For those not familiar with this, bounce rates show the number of people who visit a site and bounce away without looking at any other pages. My bet is bounce rates from Fbook and Twitter are much lower than SU driven visitors. It’s simply the difference between working hard over time to cultivate an audience and looking for a magic bullet, which SU is not, yet.

  13. @joelfortner03 Good thoughts, joelfortner03 . The bounce rate point is a smart one. I read somewhere — maybe in the article shellypringle shared — that the engagement of folks coming from SU was also usually much less than Facebook or Twitter.

    The whole situation kind of reminds me of blog leads. You’re going to see your best leads and relationships come from places you build community — the comments, Facebook, Twitter, offline conversations that lead people to your blog online. But every now and then someone who you don’t know will come across your blog one way or another and there will be a connection. Almost like a blind date. And those can be valuable relationships too. That’s what SU can provide. So it’s just smart to make sure we’re not missing out on those happenstance opportunities. Right?

  14. joelfortner03 /

    @JGoldsborough @shellypringle I say set yourself up to allow that happenstance opp to occur but spend your time where your audience is. It’s the equivalent oft living with your target audience but buying a TV ad just in case there’s anyone else out there who may want to live with you. That was a good use of “just in case,” huh?

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  1. CommDigest » Why it’s not ok to ignore StumbleUpon anymore and 4 quick steps to embrace it - [...] 2. Start stumbling. The idea of the site is fairly simple, but still takes a bit of getting used ...

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