Facebook. Twitter. Google+. LinkedIn. Years ago MySpace. There are many, many choices people can make when it comes to selecting a social media brand to use. Many individuals utilize more than one brand and sometimes brands can be used together, such as setting Twitter to post any Tweets on your Facebook wall. There is one brand that seems to be overlooked compared to other social media networks. However, considering that the number of users on StumbleUpon surpassed 20 million users in early October, this is a social medium you should consider taking a serious look at if you never have.

StumbleUpon was founded a decade ago in November 2001. The theory behind this social medium is providing users with a “discovery engine” rather than a typical search engine. When a user is looking for information via a search engine he or she types a keyword phrase in the search bar. The search engine takes that keyword phrase and generates listings that match the user’s request based on the algorithm of the search engine. The majority of time this process works very well, but sometimes search results appear that are totally irrelevant for the needs of the individual.

StumbleUpon allows a user to set individual profile preferences. Now when that user performs a discovery search via StumbleUpon he or she is directed to pages that match the preferences. You are only taken to pages that StumbleUpon friends and members with similar preferences recommend. Pages a user clicks are considered to be pages the user “Stumbled Upon”, with an opportunity for the individual to give a thumbs up or down on those pages as well as leaving brief reviews regarding the content of the page. If you are looking for the simplest explanation of the process, StumbleUpon is word-of-mouth online.

Image courtesy of Laughing Squid on Flickr

The social medium has experienced exponential growth in 2011. Today there are as many “Stumbles” in one hour as the entire total of Stumbles during the network’s first year. There were 10 million StumbleUpon users back in May 2010. That number has doubled in 17 months. The site has launched Android, iPhone and iPad apps since last year and StumbleUpon reports that now more than 1 billion Stumbles occur per month.

StumbleUpon has a long way to go to match the 800 million users on Facebook but there is no denying this social network is picking up steam. If you are wary of adding another social medium to your life, remember this is a social brand that allows you to simplify the web search process. Word-of-mouth is a great way to find out about things you will enjoy. Try the online version when you have a moment.

Have a great weekend!

Mashable.com – Sarah Kessler – StumbleUpon Doubles User Base in 16 Months, Surpasses 20 Million Users
Practical Ecommerce – Paul Chaney – StumbleUpon: Social Bookmarking Traffic Generator
Search Engine Land – Matt McGee – StumbleUpon: 20 Million Stumblers & Counting
Stepforth and be Found – Ashley Melsted – Could StumbleUpon Advertising be an Overlooked Treasure?
Venture Beat – Tom Cheredar – StumbleUpon reaches 20M users, over 1B stumbles per month