Introduction.
In this week, we have talked about the first pattern of web 2.0 which is "Harnessing Collective Intelligence". I have found an interesting example of this pattern named "Stumbleupon.com". Hopefully, this example will give you an obvious illustration of Harnessing Collective Intelligence.
What is Stumbleupon.com?
In this week, we have talked about the first pattern of web 2.0 which is "Harnessing Collective Intelligence". I have found an interesting example of this pattern named "Stumbleupon.com". Hopefully, this example will give you an obvious illustration of Harnessing Collective Intelligence.
What is Stumbleupon.com?
StumbleUpon was founded in November 2001 by Garrett Camp, Geoff Smith, Justin LaFrance and Eric Boyd. StumbleUpon uses collaborative filtering (an automated process combining human opinions with machine learning of personal preference) to create virtual communities of like-minded web surfers. Rating websites update a personal profile (a blog-style record of rated sites) and generate peer networks of web surfers linked by common interest. These social networks coordinate the distribution of web content, so that users "stumble upon" pages explicitly recommended by friends and peers. Giving a site a thumbs up results in the site being placed under the user's "favorites". Furthermore, users have the ability to stumble their personal interests like "Fashion" or "Games".How it work?.
Users rate a site by giving it a thumbs up, thumbs down selection on the StumbleUpon toolbar, and can optionally leave additional commentary on the site's review page, which also appears on the user's blog. This social content discovery approach automates the "word-of-mouth" referral of peer-approved websites and simplifies web navigation. Stumblers also have the ability to rate and review each others' blogs and join interest groups, which are community forums for specific topics. Users can post comments in the manner of a discussion board in these groups and post links to websites that apply to the specific topic.
Searching vs Stumbling
Using search engines to locate relevant content typically means hunting through pages of results. Rather than searching for quality websites. However, StumbleUpon filters through the vast amount of information on the web to direct Stumblers to high quality web sites which are relevant to their personal interests. An obscure but interesting site can be immediately shared with other like-minded users. Old or low-quality sites can be removed if their ratings become too low. The participation of community members helps maintain a database of the most up-to-date and highest quality sites possible.
Overview of Stumbleupon.com
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