Content Curation & Distribution featuring StumbleUpon, Scoop.it, Trap.it

10 May 2012 | 4 Comments | posted by gsocialmedia | in technology

When I think about Content Curation, I think about sites like StumbleUpon, ScoopIt, TrapIt, Pinterest and sometimes Digg. Of course there are many sites out there including Curata, CurationSoft, Google+, Storify, PearlTrees, MySyndicaat, Curatedby, Storyful, Evri, Paperli, Pearltrees, Scribit and Magnify that I could use, but I have chosen the sites that have caught my attention, proven value to me, and that I am personally comfortable with. Many of these sites are free to join and use. Content curation is where I can have all of the things that I am interested in delivered to me in a sifted and funneled manner. I do not use search engines much anymore because these sites have already done the research for me. So what do I get? I get a wealth of information on topics I am interested in including Social Media, Technology, Robots, SOPA-PIPA-CISPA, Conferences, Twitter, Facebook, Education and whatever else I want to know. And I love Infographics, they are like an educational cartoon to me, so Pinterest comes into play many times on that end. I also curate a lot of inspirational quotes through their search feature while I am pinning.

But when it comes down to high quality “content curation” – business information that I want to delivered to my screen in moments, I usually go to Trap.It, Scoop.It and StumbleUpon.com. All of them are similar in some ways, but all have unique features that attract me, keep my attention and educate me daily.

StumbleUpon hooks me with the surprise factor. For example, I can search “Technology” and a page that they recommend is delivered to my screen. Sometimes it is not exactly what I was expecting, but I am like “Wow, Nice!” And it is something I would not have normally clicked on, so it opens my horizons and expands my education greatly. I click the “Stumble” button, and another new post of interest appears. There is also a great social sharing bar on the top of the page that shares and instantly adds the links to my su.pr link shortening and tracking page.

Once I set my preferred topics of interest on TrapIt, I can go to my main screen and see the best of all of them. So I get a magazine style digital newspaper in front of me with everything I want to know. I can also click on a specific individual topic and they “Trap” or curate many articles to one page for me, I click on the title or photo of the article I am interested in, it opens the post, and I am ready to study and learn. The ease of use and how much information I am able to cover is amazing. I really enjoy the top  sharing bar which makes it easy for me to grab the link directly, or instantly share it by clicking on the Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Facebook & Email button.

The public online magazine I create, share and use is ScoopIt. I can set up a page quickly with any themed title and info I wish. These are called “My Curated Topics”. When I click on a topic such as social media, I get brought to a page of about 20 articles that match my exact interest. I am able to scan the list of titles, descriptions and photos; click on them, read and then share them on social platforms such as Facebook, WordPress, Twitter, Tumblr & LinkedIn. I can also share my public Scoop.it page and others can see and explore all of the great stories I have Scooped! Scoopit also has a built in social networking feature which allows me to meet others and follow the online Curated Topic magazines they have created.

The list goes on an on with the features of all of these great Content Curation and Distribution sites. And they continue to evolve as they receive data and learn about the information we want and the ways we want this content delivered. Humans determine the algorithm. Education has become so much easier for everyone, from the newbie to the pro. Thank you.

Listen to this Spark Tech Talk podcast below featuring Oliver Hsiang from StumbleUpon, Guillaume Decugis from ScoopIt, & Gary Griffiths from TrapIt. Content Curation & Distribution is King!