Chance Flavors - StumbleUpon Merger Edition!
By CHM on Feb 10, 2008 in Blogroll, Featured
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Before I start today, I would just like to say THANK YOU to everyone who supports my blog. I appreciate it very very much, you’ve really helped me to become passionate about something again!
This is the third edition of ‘Chance Flavors.’ And so far it’s been wildly successful (he says jokingly).
Actually, Chance Flavors is by far the least read of all my weekly posts and I’ve been sitting here trying to think how I can change that fact or whether or not it’s worth writing a round up to begin with. It got me to thinking about the purpose of roundups in the first place.
Why do blogs have weekly round ups?
The way I see it most of these roundups serve one, some, or all of the following purposes:
- to relieve bloggers from having to come up with fresh content of their own
- it’s an easy way to meet a weekly quota of ‘posts published’
- it’s a way to recognize your peers and posts you really liked; posts that may have moved you on some level
- it’s what you want your readers to learn more about
- it’s a way to get in the good graces of those blogs that you’d like your blog most closely associated with
- it’s a way to piss off and alienate fellow bloggers because of the subjective and political nature of the selection process.
I’m sure there are many more valid purposes for these roundups but those escape me at the moment. Now, I don’t want to offend anybody (he says tongue in cheek) and be one of the guys ‘alienating fellow bloggers’, so I’m going to try a slightly unorthodox way of ’rounding it all up’ for a few weeks.
I know I promised you, “the flavors of the week would come rain or shine” and I don’t want to disappoint my legions (he says jokingly once again), but we’re gonna do it a different way…
StumbleUpon is my favorite social media site, by miles
I have become a huge fan of (SU) StumbleUpon, and love using the site (it’s addictive, so be careful).
I come across so many interesting articles, photos and videos everyday over there. Some days I find myself thinking, “I got to get home and see what’s happening on SU” or feeling like I missed something a fellow stumbler may have sent my way.
Sounds a bit crazy, I know… but for my money you can keep your Facebook’s and Digg’s and I’ll stick with SU. So, in honor of that fact, I’m going to integrate the ‘flavors of the week’ with my page over there. BUT WAIT that’s not all…
My favorites from the past week
When you get to that page, off to the right you will see ‘tags’ for the categories I most often read about. Within those categories are my favorite, favorite stories. I invite you to click on any of these tags and see what I really like and what moved me FROM THE PAST WEEK and beyond.
And the Flavor goes to…
To be fair, since I know many of you may not be fond of this extra step I’ve created, I will take 5 posts from my different SU categories and bring them over here. Kind of like a mini Academy Awards each week. So without further ado, the flavor(s) of the week go to…
Investing - (love the photo here)
Riding the stock market roller coaster @ Millionaire Money Habits
Investor psychology and confidence in the US financial markets has reached its lowest level in at least five years. People are panicking, cashing in their stocks and taking substantial realized losses, and fear is driving investment decisions.
Video
Not sure what to make of this video, but it probably represents the feelings a lot of investors have toward their financial advisors right now, take a look…
Picture
This photo explains why my mouse moves even when I don’t touch it!
Self Improvement
7 things women wish men knew about money @ Being Frugal
Women like strong leadership qualities in men. That doesn’t give you the license to be a dictator, but women like to feel like a man will take the lead and make decisions that are in her best interest.
Business
10 Reasons I won’t accept a job counter offer @ The Wisdom Journal
When the time came to decide who would be considered for a promotion, my current employer would definitely remember who almost went to work elsewhere. Many times, bosses reward loyalty more than anything else.
That’s it for this week. There are so many great posts to choose from… so go on ahead and decide for yourself.
In conclusion - a merger of sorts
I guess what I’m doing here today is making “my StumbleUpon” an extension of my blog.
Attention bloggers
Going forward, instead of leaving comments on individual blog posts, more and more I will stumble that particular post, make comments on my StumbleUpon page instead, therefore appealing to a broader audience from which readers can choose to act, aka… go to your post. Hopefully this will be a new way to drive traffic to your blog.
I’d be very interested to hear what others think about this divergence from the norm?
Tags: My StumbleUpon
Ron@TheWisdomJournal | Feb 10, 2008 | Reply
Good morning Ciaran,
Thanks for including me in your links for the week!
I agree with you about Stumble. It can be HIGHLY addictive.
Four Pillars | Feb 10, 2008 | Reply
Good post.
Off topic but…. have you considered doing full length feeds? The short ones drive me nuts and are the first ones to go…
Mike
Mrs. Micah | Feb 10, 2008 | Reply
I use my Stumble powers in fits and spurts. It mostly has to do with how much free time I have and how attentive I am to the possibility of stumbling as I’m doing my daily reading.
The SU/comment idea—I don’t know how that will work out. It’ll certainly make you popular if it sends good traffic.
CHM | Feb 10, 2008 | Reply
@Mike was just thinking that this morning. Will change it ASAP, don’t know what I was thinking.
@MM- thanks for your comments. I’m trying to work more efficiently and think this is a good way. Instead of posting in 2 places, this makes it easier and is a lot better for everyone. Most of the time (my) comments go unnoticed, this may change that, who knows.
hank | Feb 10, 2008 | Reply
Hey Ciaran - like the idea - I agree with Mike in the full length post feeds; I’ve actually UNsubscribed to some blogs for it.
But yes, as far as the post, good idea if it works. That’s how to do it by getting in first in an idea - guess only time will tell on this front, eh?
CHM | Feb 10, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the feedback Hank and I’ve already changed my Feedburner back to full length feeds. I think that probably has hurt me some, oh well, live and learn.
Let’s see, I’m kind of excited about the SU idea, I mean I love the site. Really only been posting there for a month and have quite a few friends, by summertime will have a lot more and a nice audience for viewing comments.
Like you said we shall see…
CatherineL | Feb 11, 2008 | Reply
Ciaran - That’s a smart idea. I’m not a huge fan of weekly round ups and I’ve only recently joined StumbleUpon but I like it too.
Digg sucks, because you don’t even need to read a post to digg it. And I’m guessing it’s fixed as some of the stuff that gets a lot of votes is trashy.
But, on StumbleUpon, you’d ruin your credibility if you recommended rubbish.
And it’s a brilliant resource for finding great articles.
By the way - how do you pronounce your name?
Patrick | Feb 11, 2008 | Reply
Ciaran, I like the idea. I like to Stumble great articles, and I know others appreciate it when their articles are Stumbled. It’s a great way to share your interests, and great articles with others, and can only be a positive for the community. I say go for it!
Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net | Feb 11, 2008 | Reply
I like the way you’re integrating SU with your blog. It sounds like an easier way to do roundups than the way I go about it! It’s nice to see what you’ve been stumbling, too.
And thanks so much for including my article as a Chance Flavor!
CHM | Feb 11, 2008 | Reply
Hi Catherine, I responded to you via email didn’t realize it was posted here for some reason:)
Pronounced like the tasty Japanese beer Kirin beer.
Patrick and Lynnae,
Thanks for the input, going to be interesting to see if becoming more opinionated over on SU impacts my popularity there.
Millionaire Money Habits | Feb 11, 2008 | Reply
Glad you said that - I almost changed the pic to a roller coaster
Thanks for the mention. Love the mouse!
CHM | Feb 12, 2008 | Reply
Glad you liked it Ryan, pretty cool picture that little mouse with his breathing apparatus, ha. I’m glad you stuck with your pic and, more importantly, nice post.