The recommendation network StumbleUpon (SU) has been around since 2002, and has developed into a great place to find new and interesting content. Despite it’s longevity, many people are still not entirely sure how to use it and quickly give up, which is a shame because they are missing out on a good source of research material, entertainment and community. If you are among them, here are a few tips to help to get more out of your SU experience.

Create a full profile
It’s worth spending a few minutes filling out your profile to tell visitors something about yourself. Add a photo, a short biography and don’t forget to use the Interests page to list all the tags, or subjects, you’re interested in. The interests you choose also affect the type of pages you see, so this really is worth doing!

Be discerning about your friends and subscriptions
When you are new, it is tempting to add as many people as possible simply to avoid feeling like the new kid. However, it’s best to stick to people you either do know, or with whom you share common interests. Remember, you will be seeing the content they stumble, and if you don’t like it you aren’t going to enjoy SU.

Install the toolbar and use the Channels feature
The SU toolbar gives you the option of stumbling your friends’ finds; pages by category; images; videos and even complete websites such as: the BBC, Wikipedia and YouTube. This is especially useful if you looking for information on a particular subject.

Write reviews
When you come across a page you like, try to write a short review in addition to clicking the Thumbs Up button. It doesn’t have to be long, a sentence or two is fine, but don’t forget to include descriptive tags. Writing reviews will help to raise your profile which can lead to more subscribers, and a greater importance being attached to the pages you stumble.

Use the page sending feature sparingly
Sending every page you like to every one of your contacts will not make you popular! Use it only for the best material you come across, and even then, do not use it everyday.

Do not stumble your own blog
Not only is this against the terms of use – you can be banned for it – it is also considered Spammy. There are numerous buttons you can add to your blog to let your readers stumble your posts, and if you write good content they will.