For my Electronic Resources for Youth class, I chose to evaluate the social search engine StumbleUpon, a site that has surfaced as an interesting new way to browse the web. It is a website that retrieves search results tailored to the user’s interests, rated and recommended by others with similar web tastes. StumbleUpon prides itself on combating information overload by pointing users only to the websites matching their personal preferences and interests.
To begin navigating with it, a user would register an e-mail and password on the main page, then decide on a list of preferences. The site’s Toolbar features a “Stumble!” button that the user can click which will randomly generate a list of sites tailored to the user’s preferences and interests. However, the results are not entirely random, but rather machine and user-selected to determine the best and most relevant sites for the user. I selected my preferences to include “crafts” “multimedia” “cooking” and “self improvement” and then clicked the “Stumble!” button. Rather than retrieving a list of search results, StumbleUpon took me straight to my first site. A user can then rate the stumbled upon site with a thumbs up or a thumbs down which will help contribute to the growing community-based ranking system. I could have typed more specific interests – Italian recipes, advanced yoga, projects using recycled materials, etc. Like Google, the search possibilities are endless, but with StumbleUpon, the results are much more personalized.
The video on their "About Us" page gives a good overview.
No comments:
Post a Comment