Share Your Stuff: Effectively and Ethically Submitting Pages to StumbleUpon & Stumblers

Recently a number of people have asked me how to get lots of visitors via StumbleUpon. To answer that question, I first need to make it very clear that I don’t see it as ‘getting’ Stumblers to ones sites per say. Instead, I share what I enjoy both what I find on other sites and (much more infrequently) what I write or create myself with others on StumbleUpon. I also send stuff to those I think will appreciate the material. StumbleUpon is a diverse site with millions of interesting, educational and entertaining pages and Stumblers of all ages and interests. Here are some steps for becoming an active Stumbler, contributing valuable pages to StumbleUpon and making sure that the people who see them are those who will appreciate them most.

(1) Familiarize yourself with StumbleUpon categories and tags. When you submit a new page to StumbleUpon (as shown below) some default popular categories appear right in front of you, though you can also look under the ‘Other’ menu to find more. The popular categories, if selected as the primary category, may lead the page to be seen by more people if it fits the category. However, if the page doesn’t fit into one of those categories and you submit under it anyway, you might find that no one appreciates it and votes it up – the submission is wasted. Your best bet is to submit to the most fitting category, then choose applicable tags. For example, I might submit a work of Graffiti by Banksy under ‘CounterCulture,’ but add the tags ‘Banksy’ and ‘graffiti’ (highly targetted) as well as ‘arts’ and ‘activism’ (more popular but also applicable).

(2) Network effectively with like-minded Stumblers: One key to success StumbleUpon, just like any social networking, bookmarking or news site – is to find people who appreciate and will vote for your submissions. There are a few ways to do this.

(a) Start by looking at who votes for your submissions and add them as a Stumble ‘friend.’ If you feel up to it, you can even send them a message and see if they’ll add you back – though many will automatically. However, if that someone has hundreds of friends they may be over their limit and unable to add you back. At the opposite extreme, if they have just a few Stumble-friends they may be someone who never adds anyone back. If you want someone who will become a reciprical friend, look for people with around 50 to 150 friends. An extension of this: look for people with similar interests or who submitted pages you like.

(b) Find Stumblers by Stumbling the keyword ‘Stumblers.’ Particularly if you’re relatively new to StumbleUpon, you may not have many Stumble-friends. A good way to start finding Stumblers (once you’ve input your own interests into the database) is to Stumble under the keyword ‘Stumblers.’ this will allow you to browse users’ pages and find people who are interested in similar subjects. You can add a lot of Stumblers with similar interests this way, and if you eventually have too many you can always remove people who don’t add you back.

(3) Send stuff to the right Stumblers: Use the ‘Send to’ button when you find or create something you think is suited to a particular Stumbler’s interests. Some things of general interest can be sent to many Stumble-friends, while special-interest topics might only be appropriate to certain people. Some Stumblers you will know well outside of StumbleUpon or interact with via Stumble-messages, and you’ll know what to send them as a result. Other Stumblers you might just remember what they have Stumbled or use their name to determine what to send them (e.g. FunnyFarts likes crass humor). In your ‘Send to’ message, give a brief description of the page, or write why you think they’ll like it.

StumbleUpon is a great way to both share what you like and what you create, but remember: it is a social setting like any other with etiquette. Don’t assume someone is going to like just anything you write – it has to be on-target with their interests. As a rule of thumb Stumblers like images and easy-to-read articles. After all, they are browsing the internet not reading a novel! Make your submissions to-the-point and add illustrations as appopriate, then submit them to StumbleUpon under the right tags and send them to Stumblers who will be interested in the material. StumbleUpon is a great way to find stuff and share stuff as long as you respect your fellow Stumbler and help them find things they will appreciate!

I, for one, am always happy to get great material from Stumble-friends. Join up, add me as a friend and send me your stuff – whether it’s yours or you just found it!

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