Web 2.0 Heroes: Interviews with 20 Web 2.0 Influencers by Bradley L. Jones, Chapter 15

Library Reference: none

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Web-2-0-Heroes-Interviews-Influencers/dp/0470241993/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224483069&sr=1-5

Quote: “The Web becomes a lot more of an interactive platform rather than just a way to buy or read stuff.”

Learning Expectations:

I expect to learn how Garret Camp used StumbleUpon to impart something to the Web 2.0. The services that StumbleUpon offers to the people are something that greatly affects the Web 2.0. I also expect to learn how people stumbled upon StumbleUpon on the web.

Review:

The 20 Web 2.0 Influencers by Bradley L. Jones E-Book shares the interview of the 15^th chapter and influencer, he is one of the founders and chief product officer of StumbleUpon, Garret Camp. He worked on StumbleUpon because he wanted people to share interesting sites with others. Providing this capability, people can start a conversation and communicate with each other. He might think of that people can be connected with each other through their interests and the things they put importance to. There are an invisible link connecting people from one another through their interests. People having the same likes get much comfortable with people they do not know but share the same likes and interests. They find it much easier to start a conversation with others because they know that there is something that links them together.

Starting a conversation with others who are not yet your friends is really a difficult task to do. But knowing that there is something that the other person gives importance to that you too give importance with gives you the edge on starting a conversation. An example for this is that both people can just start talking about chocolate because both of them are freakishly addicts for chocolate. They can share information such as what are their favorite type of chocolate, will it be dark, white, mint, with nuts, with coatings, or just the normal type. They can also tell each other their experiences with chocolates such as Hershey’s, Toblerone, Cadbury, KitKat, and the like. See? Knowing something that interests both people can spark a conversation in an instant. By the way, who wouldn’t love chocolate? *smile*

Back to business, StumbleUpon offers this service to a lot of people. It is easy to apply because all you need to do is sign up and then bask with the information that you will receive in a few moments. StumbleUpon offers people web sites that others feel important to others. They recommend web sites complete with reviews and comments just to make things authentic. It also gives people the possibility to meet new friends because StumbleUpon shows the people who are online. A boy can browse through recommended sites or he could just look at the pictures of girls who are currently online which they can use to see if a girl is pretty or not. Just Kidding.

Another feature of StumbleUpon is that it offers users a toolbar on which they can easily make use of the functions of StumbleUpon any web site they visit to. They can get interesting contents and information in web sites that they can share with others. Also there is a feature that on which they have a recommendation search engine that gives them further ease on looking for things that interest them personally. One more thing, there is also a blog for people to share experiences and information to others with further ease. All these features are something that people want to achieve because of the works and jobs that stress them.

StumbleUpon is a web application that is very popular to a lot of people all over the world. There are currently about 6,389,870 individuals all over the world that has recommended something to someone on the web. If you think about it, why not? It is free; all you need to do is sign up. It is easy to use. It is also a way to meet new friends and other people that have the same interests and likes as you have. Sharing is really changing the way people live all over the world with the help of the internet and the web.

Lessons Learned:

I have learned how Garret Camp used StumbleUpon to pass on something to the Web 2.0 and affect it in a great way. I have also learned how people stumbled upon each other on StumbleUpon. People are using their personal interests and like to meet new people and gain information about it through StumbleUpon.