Once you create an account on Stumbleupon, you pick from a list of subjects that interest you, like sports, movies, or art. Once your ideal list of subjects is created, you press the "stumble" button, and the website directs you to a random website that is linked to one of the subjects you selected. This type of technology has an enormous impact as it allows a user to find interesting websites and articles they may never have found by simply surfing the internet. This website, however, does have the ability to affect a readers attention span as the New York Times article described. By allowing a reader to "stumble" to new articles at a very fast rate, it is difficult for someone truly take in the full effect of a reading when they are so eager to move to another article. Whether or not you agree with the effect Stumbleupon has on its users, its overwhelming success is representative that the way users "read" on the internet truly is changing with technology.
This concept is similar to pictures. My mom loves taking lots of pictures and she's old-fashioned, so she always prints them out and puts them in albums. When we sit to view the photos, I rush through them, whereas my mom tells me to slow down to take time to see the pictures. I just want to rush through the pictures because I remembered the memory clearly that I see the pictures in my mind, I don't need to look at the paper for a long time. Same thing with stumble-upon, we go fast but we don't take the full effect or appreciation of the webpage because we are going too fast to go to the next site.
ReplyDeleteKendall, I LOOOOVE that image. Been there, done and redone that.
ReplyDeleteThis post is great considering it confirms exactly what Rich's article said about how the internet promotes speed and encourages us to not look past the surface. While I must admit it is a great site, it does provide the perfect venue to peruse the internet in a customized while still speedy fashion. One thing I do think about though is that while this does do no more than skim the sites, it does expose you to A) sites you might not have seen otherwise and B) more sites than you would otherwise. So while it is the less-than-ideal level of attention to detail we would like, it is a useful tool in that it exposes you to sites you may have never heard of, and some might even stick long-term. I "stumbled upon" incredibox (incredibox.fr) about 7 months ago, and to this day I still go back to that site, among others I found skimming the surface.
ReplyDeleteEven when I comment on the blogs, I find it hard to read the entire entry. Often, I'll just skim a blog and get the general idea rather than taking the time to read the entire thing. Therefore, I found it kind of ironic when I was skimming your blog that talked about our declining attention spans. I would definitely agree with the points you made here.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a really good point in this blog and a friend of mine told me about stumbleupon and i think it is a really interesting website. There is so much out there on the internet that people have a very hard time focusing on one thing. As i am writing this comment i am also doing several other things which is really interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteStumbleUpon is great but I do feel like sometimes I don't pay enough attention to each site. If something does not immediately jump out at me that looks interested on a site I immediately move on. It really speaks to the importance of aesthetics when designing a web site.
ReplyDeleteThis is a unique medium reference. You can think of it as a way to express your individual interests in showing that this technology can channel your interests to another by simply viewing your stumble history. Or you can look at this technology in a means of channeling to you what it "thinks you would enjoy based off your interests".. this is a means of stereotyping..
ReplyDelete