Newbie to StumbleUpon and Tumblr

Pinterest is a very interesting site, it shares sites that one would not normally explore when surfing the web.  Like in my previous blog I use this as a source to just waste my time away when I have nothing else to do.  I can find things to just look at, activities for my campers, friends, and activities to do around the house.  One thing that I noticed is that the profile of a person on Pinterest doesn’t share information about them.  A profile on Pinterest shows a picture of their choice, their name, and the boards that they created.  This does not limit what someone can find out of this person.  I believe that the things that are pinned on someone’s board can really explain that persons interests and who they are. 

These past few days I have joined two new sites that I never had experience with, StumbleUpon and Tumblr.  I don’t really enjoy Tumblr because I don’t like blogging but it is very interesting to just observe and read what everyone else is blogging about. 

StumbleUpon is a site whose mission is to help others easily discover sites on the web, these are sites that they wouldn’t normally find.  Upon stumbling the user creates a profile that can be accessed by other online stumblers.  The profile has info about the user like name, a picture/avatar, gender, state, and country that you are from.  The user then is able to select what categories he or she is interested in.  Once that is done the user then stumbles, which brings them to different web pages.  The user then has the option to like or dislike a page this helps Stumble narrow down your searches to better the user’s experience. 

When reading the Terms of Conduct and the Privacy Policy nothing is public information without the users consent and they do not sell any private information to other parties.  If there are any problems with StumbleUpon the user can contact them by clicking on their link and it will email their problem.  StumbleUpon will then try to fix the problem and email the user bask as soon as possible. 

While I was browsing StumbleUpon I noticed that it was hard for me to add people as followers or friends to see their profile.  I t may have been that I didn’t have many friends on Facebook with a StumbleUpon account.  StumbleUpon has a mobile app so that it can be accessed on a smartphone and many can access their Facebook page, Twitter account, and their blog to learn more. 

Another site that I joined this week was Tumblr.  Tumblr is a blogging site in which the user can follow other blogs, and by doing this when accessing their home page a newsfeed of recent posts by the blogs that are followed.  These blogs can consist of things like a text, photos, quotes, links, chats, audio files, and videos.  The posts can also be tagged so that they can be categorized.  A Tumblr profile has a picture, an about me, and likes and dislikes.  Similar to StumbleUpon their Privacy Policy is that no information is public information without consent.  Tumblr does however is have a Code of Conduct this shows what is not allowed on Tumblr; Malicious Bigotry, Harm to Minors, Promotion and Glorification of Self Harm, Gore and Mutilation Content, Unflagged NSFW Blogs, Uploading Sexually Explicit Videos, Non Genuine Social Gesture Schemes, Username and URL Abuse, Spam, Mass Registration and Auto, Unauthorized Contests, Sweepstakes, or Giveaways, Copyright and Trademark Infringement, Impersonation, Stalking, or Harassment, Privacy Violations, Disruptions Exploits, and Resources Abuse, and Unlawful Uses of Content.

Pinterest is very much like StumbleUpon because both are way for users to access and view sites that they wouldn’t normally view.  Both give users the option to choose a topic in which they browse.  If the users choose not to pick a topic they can browse sites that are random in category.  I do not believe there are many similar characteristics between Tumblr and Pinterest.  I do not think that I would be interested in Tumblr if it weren’t for this class.  I am not really interested in blogging myself but I am curious to read what others have to blog.  I will however continue to use StumbleUpon because I prefer to browse and not write about my thoughts.  Although, I am writing for this class I prefer to talk about what is on my mind instead of writing them down.  :]