We're Moving!

Dear Friends,

You've probably noticed that on many of the posts recently, if you click to read more, or click on the title, you're taken to another site instead. That's because at the encouragement of friends, I've finally decided to move SU Com to it's own domain: http://sucomments.com. I'm hoping you'll like the new site, I think it's easier to navigate around, especially if you are new to StumbleUpon. There is a tab on the header labeled Beginner, which has all the posts I've written for newcomers to SU. I'll add other tabs as I get more specialized topics, eventually I'd like to have a business tab and a couple others.

So check out the new site and tell me what you think. The layout may change a little over time, I'm still learning how to set up everything, but the content will stay the same, information to help you get the most out of SU, whether you're brand new or you've been using it for years. :)

Teeg :)

So What Should I Post On My StumbleUpon Blog?

My mom just started using StumbleUpon. When I visit her page though, it’s a blank page that has a message from SU suggesting I ask her to install the toolbar. She has the toolbar, I know, I installed it for her. She just isn’t sure what post.

When I started using SU, one of my first impressions was “Oh neat! It’s an online bookmarking site, like del.icio.us, but I can add information about the things I really like.” So my blog started out as an eclectic mixture of things that caught my interest, and well, it’s continued the same way pretty much, ever since. If I’m researching a subject, I share it.

The nice thing about stumbling is that you can thumb up any pages you like. You can even add tags to any page, without having to post the page to your blog. Which leaves your blog free to post anything you want! So, if you don’t want an eclectic blog, then make it be about something. On StumbleUpon, there are photoblogs, poetry blogs, technology blogs, silly blogs, eclectic blogs, blogs about blogging, and anything else you can think of!

Here are some examples for your perusal:

more...

Okay, But Where Do I Start?

Dear Friends,

I have an apology to make. I’ve been giving you hints and tips for using StumbleUpon and never thought that maybe you don’t have StumbleUpon installed yet. So, first things first, run, don’t walk, to StumbleUpon, sign up, and download the toolbar. (Think I could throw more cliches into that sentence without it sounding ridiculous?)

Okay, so you’ve signed up at SU, you’ve got the toolbar installed, you’ve added a picture of yourself (or anything that’s different than the ipody looking temp avatars SU gives), you’ve even read (or watched) my instructions on how to set up your toolbar, and now you’re wondering what to do next.
more...

Stumbled on the Web

Found on 50+ Digital: AARP will add social networking to AARP.org as part of an overall redesign expected to be completed early next year. Networking will be “a key component” of the overhaul, confirms Dave Irwin, spokesman for AARP Illinois. “Our members are tech-savvy and they’re looking for ways to network with one another,” he said. Social networking features were previewed for attendees of AARP’s big Life@50 event last month in Boston.

Getting Started with StumbleUpon – Using the Toolbar (transcript)

This is the transcript of the video on using the StumbleUpon toolbar.


more...

Cool!

I got posted on the Carnival of Struggling Bumbling Newbies. Check it out: http://www.successpart2.com/

Getting Started With StumbleUpon - Using the Toolbar

Transcript


For a clearer version, check out this link (I haven't figured out how to change the size of the video and it's too big for the blog): Getting Started With StumbleUpon - Using the Toolbar.

I made a video!

I just created a video for StumbleUpon Comments and TaggZilla on using the StumbleUpon toolbar!

Do I sound excited? I am. I've never really made a video before...not one that required more than "okay, let's snip the movie here because earlier you moved the camera so much you'd get everyone carsick (my husband's opinion of my videotaping)...and end it here, where J's sticking out his tongue at the frog. Now save it and we're done." I did this one in Powerpoint, which is a program I've also never used before but overall I think/hope it turned out okay. I'm sure after I've done more, I'll look back at this one and think how awful it is, but right now I'm just proud I got it done.

I'll be posting the video soon, along with a transcript. As a southerner living in the north, I've learned that writing goes a LONG way toward mutual understanding...consider this conversation I had at a restaurant recently:

Me, giving my husband's name for them to call (give them my name? Are you kidding??? We'd be there all day): It's Ken.

Them: Okay, Keene. Got it, it'll be 5 minutes.

Me: No, it's (slowly) Ken.

Them: Okay, Keane. Got it.

Me: K...E...N

Them: Keen. Okay, we'll call you when your seat is ready.

There are days I really miss living in the south! :)

Adding Friends to StumbleUpon

Dear friends,

I mentioned before that the new SU layout isn't as intuitive as the old one. One reason I know this is because I like to invite my friends to join StumbleUpon, and instead of "Wow" or "This is awesome!" the comment I'm hearing the most lately is "I just can't figure it out."

And so I'm going to start a new tag here called Beginner. Each time I post a topic that will help someone new to stumbling, I'll use the beginner tag on it. I already have one post that belongs there, instructions on how to post pictures on SU. Today I'll be talking about how to add friends. If you're new to StumbleUpon, click on the Beginner tag to learn tips that will help you enjoy your first days stumbling. If you have friends who are just starting, send them here. We won't eat them, I promise. :)

Today a friend from another online site sent me a note asking how to add me as a friend on SU. Used to be, it was simple. You'd visit their page and click the Add as a Friend button in the right hand corner...

more...

The Magic of StumbleUpon's Recent Reviews Page

If you've been using StumbleUpon for a while, you've probably fussed or heard fussing about the new format. If you've just joined SU, then you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but the layout of your SU page is quite different than it used to look. In a lot of ways, the old page was more intuitive. It was easier to figure out how to get started, if you were new to stumbling.

I'm guessing that the guys at SU headquarters are figuring if you're new to SU, you're going to depend on the toolbar to learn your way around the site, since to me, the new pages seem more like they're made for people who have been stumbling for a little while. It's easy to find "people like you," not too hard to find the top ranked sites of the day (although it's harder to find the Buzz, a daily list of the instant hit sites, pages that were discovered and became popular in a matter of hours) and it's easy to see what your friends have stumbled on.

I LOVE the Recent reviews section. It's probably one of the main things that keeps me from switching back to the old layout. It's really nice seeing the most recent items my friends have posted...

more...

The Top Thing I Would Tell Companies Wanting To Be Stumbled

There are a lot of companies out there right now who are starting to realize how important StumbleUpon traffic can be for their site.

If I could tell them one thing to help encourage people to stumble them, it would be to put a small or medium sized brand at the top of their page and allow people to photoblog it.

These companies have it right:





Think about it...for a small amount of extra bandwidth, their brand is getting shared all across the internet. Don't you think that's worth it?
Technorati Tags: StumbleUpon, SU, Revenue blogging, Business, Photoblog

StumbleUpon Mail

Lately I've been checking out some of the Web 2.0 social sites, curious to see what they were like. Facebook impressed me, MySpace not so much, maybe because I'm not the type person who's likely to put a favorite rock star or actor in the background, and most of the backgrounds I've seen feel too busy when I'm trying to read posts.

But there is one thing that I've realized repeatedly that StumbleUpon got right and these others haven't figured out yet.

It's their e-mail system. Now don't laugh, I know the 200 a day limit can be bothersome. I've reached it before too and had to switch to e-mail. And if I take a break and chase after J, my 4 year old, and come back an hour later, I know I should save before I hit send because there's a chance I might get an error message. But honestly, isn't it nice to open your e-mail and instead of an e-mail saying "Click here to see your message" instead there's an e-mail from SU with the full message from your friend? I love that the only reason I have to sign in to SU if I get a message is if I want to reply to the sender. I also appreciate that outside of messages from friends, I don't get e-mail from SU. If something new happens, they'll send a page link through their toolbar instead.
Technorati Tags: StumbleUpon, SU, email

Using RSS with StumbleUpon

I'm thinking about RSS today.

As you may know, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. A name which didn't help explain things at all, when I first heard about it a couple years ago.

What it means is that sites that frequently have new information or feeds added can send some or all of that information to another place. A simple way to picture it is to imagine that you're sitting at your kitchen table, reading the morning paper. The special thing about this paper is that you've chosen the author of every section, so that the paper is chock full of information that's of interest to you.

more...

Usernames and Profile Pictures

Came across this article about building up your blog with StumbleUpon while I was browsing one of my favorite blogging blogs, ProBlogger. (Do you think I used the word blog enough times in that sentence?) :)

The article was written by Skellie, a guest blogger on the site. She has some good points. One of my favorites is near the beginning of the article: "Every blogger should have a StumbleUpon account. Regardless of which social media service you prefer, StumbleUpon is by far the easiest and least time-consuming to use."

This tip by her got me to thinking though:

One tip: make sure your username and profile picture are branded in line with your blog. Use your blogging name for your profile, and a photo or logo your readers will be familiar with.

Now, there's not anything wrong with using your logo for your picture. In fact, although you can change your picture as often as you want, if you are stumbling with the goal of building up your site, and if you have a logo, I'd recommend including your logo in any profile picture you use.

Quite by accident, I discovered how important your profile picture is a while back. My son was 2 when I first started Stumbling, and he fell in love with the Pooh picture and the fact that Pooh and Piglet were hugging. Since he loved the picture so much, I kept it as my profile picture, instead of changing it to something more grown-up.

About a year later, since he was three and wasn't making me show him the Pooh picture every time he saw me at the computer, I toyed with the idea of changing my picture. In fact, I even mentioned it here and there, and the fuss I got surprised me. The most repeated point? That people saw my picture and knew it was me without having to look at my name. So anyway, I kept Pooh Bear, and I'll probably be represented by him forever on SU.

I guess the second point from that story is to pick a picture that you like and that you'll be happy with down the road even if you don't have a logo. Eventually, even if you only thumb up pages and never post to a forum or participate any other way on SU, people are going to recognize your "face."

Sooo...what part am I not sure about then? I guess I've seen too many stumblers named GrowTomatoPlantsIndoors or stuff like that, who then have a tendency to spam people's inbox until they get blacklisted as spammers. Now, to be honest, I have seen one or two legitimate businesses who name themselves for their business and thumb up interesting articles related to their business, but I'd say if you use this approach you need to be very careful that every item you thumb up is interesting and that it's labeled correctly (although the SU program is good at labeling most sites, it does mess up on occasion, which is something you really don't want if you're thumbing up your own business site).

What I would recommend if you have a blog you're trying to get revenue from, and what I suspect that Skellie was trying to say, is to use the same name for your SU site that you use for your blog, and use it with Facebook, MySpace, and any other site that you frequent. I do want to emphasize that I only recommend this if you are wanting people to find your other sites, because as a researcher, I know how easy it is to trace someone's information on-line just by searching their username and whatever other information they've included for public view. Even if you're wanting visitors to your external sites though, I would recommend being careful what information you put where others can get hold of it. There are way too many programs that can use just a little information and put someone right on your doorstep.

Technorati Tags: StumbleUpon, SU, user name, profile,
Powered by ScribeFire.

Giving a Thumbs Up to StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon used to have an audience score that seemed to rise and fall randomly. If more people visited your SU blog, it would usually bring the number up some, but other days it would go up when no one had visited. For several months, a friend and I would compare audience scores, trying to figure out what it meant and what was happening with it. The one thing we did determine was that getting on the Top Stumbler list wasn't related to your Audience Score, since his score was always higher than mine, he had more fans than I had, and I was the one who made it on the list.

Tim Nash has written a wonderful article that finally solves (or at least sheds some light on) the mystery of Audience Scores and by doing so, he explains how to have the most impact as a stumbler. Part of this my friend and I had figured out, but some of it had me nodding my head and going, "Ah, so THAT'S how it works." :)

A point from his post:

It is hard to weight which factor is most important when increasing audience score but the factors as I see them are:

• Number of fans
• Number of thumbs up and down you have given
• Stumble thumb bonus – increase to score based on number of thumbs received on a page.

This model means that the obvious technique to get a “power account” is to find more fans, thumb up loads of pages and start stumbles on pages you expect to be popular – sound familiar its pretty much the same on every social media site.

With the recent popularity of StumbleUpon, one thing I've noticed is that a LOT of people don't seem to "get" how SU works. Stumblers with several pages of sites they've commented on won't have thumbed up their own site...and sometimes they haven't even thumbed up the pages they're commenting on. Those thumbs on the SU Toolbar are important. They represent everything you're interested in...and anything you aren't. Giving a thumbs up to a good page increases the page's value in SU's AI's eyes. So that page will get sent to more stumblers. As they thumb it up and add their own tags to it, it will be sent to even more, and so on and so forth.

Now, the thing that is death both to your audience score and to whatever site you're thumbing, is having a page you discover get marked as spam by your visitors.

According to Tim:

Fred has realised stumbleupon can make him money so thumbs up his proxy site it gets a few visitors but 7 people thumb down the site and 2 marked it as spam. Fred audience score plummets (18 but has been marked by spam so temporarily has his score halved) so his score is now 9 poor Fred will have to work hard to regain his score.

He also has a good point about friends, "it is my belief it does penalise accounts that continue to stumble the
same things without being friends or at least one party being a fan." I think it's probably the idea of having fans that keeps you from being penalized, particularly since friends on SU are basically just mutual fans, and there doesn't seem to be a bonus to being fans of a large number of people.

The one thing he mentions that I'm not totally sure about is the use of the "send to" button. I've seen some Top Stumblers use it to advantage, although admittedly that was a while back and SU may have changed the way it counts. Regardless, I still think sending a good site to a friend who you know will enjoy it is a great way to build and maintain friendships on SU. I just regret that there is no way to save the comments that get sent with a page recommendation.


Technorati Tags: StumbleUpon, Thumb Up, Stumblers

Powered by ScribeFire.