It is hard to believe StumbleUpon is 16 years old. This “discovery engine” is one of the few choices we have to literally stumble upon diverse, unexpected and interesting content on the web. We’re not going to get something unexpected on Facebook, Twitter or through Google. The increasing sophistication of personalisation algorithms means that we are all living in our little filter bubbles chockful of things we like and that reaffirm our worldview, while content that challenges the way we think is increasingly hidden from us.
It’s not that we’re all precious snowflakes afraid of differing opinions; algorithms are doing what they do best: giving us more of what we like, more of the same. Meanwhile, if you spend some time on StumbleUpon, hitting the “stumble” button will help you break from your normal patterns of web usage and discover something different.
