I’m sure a number of you are familiar with the Digg/Slashdot effect; after all, there is a Wikipedia page that is dedicated to the phenomenon.

While the ’slashdot effect’ has received a lot of study, few have taken the time to consider the effect of being ’stumbled upon’.

With the StumbleUpon (SU) front page purporting that there are over 6 million stumblers, the benefit that the social-community-site brings is potentially huge.

I actively use SU on a regular basis (gcs584).  Even though I don’t submit as many articles as others might commit, I do enjoy wading my way through the many great sites that others have stumbled upon.

I owe a lot to SU; my previous blog gathered some of its best followers after one particular visitor decided to commit one of my articles.  At that stage of the game, the blog was fairly new and struggling to survive due to a lack of motivation on my part.

I write in hope that others might read - at the time, nobody was reading.

The Experiment

How much traffic can SU drive to your next big article?

In order to properly measure the full potential of SU, this article needs to make it to the front of the pack - the front page.

I have adopted Google Analytics as my tool of choice to measure the number of visitors to the site.  Unfortunately, I am on a shared hosting plan with bluehost, but past experiences suggest that the server will be capable of handling the increased traffic. After all, the hosting company does provided unlimited bandwidth.  I’m sure it will be run through its paces…

In order to ensure an accurate measurement, I have signed up for a free account with ServerMojo to track the server’s up-time.  A great feature of the service is that others can track the server’s up-time themselves.

How can you help us measure the effect?

That is where you come in.  In order that we mimic the submission of popular article being stumbled, I am going to need all of you to contribute to the effort.  Remember, the goal is the front page! I encourage your participation in two ways:

1. Either click the button located just on the left, or select the “I like it!” button located in your StumbleUpon toolbar.
2. Post a link to this article on your blog encouraging others to participate in the effort.

The Results

I hope to publish the results of the experiment within the next 48 hours.  The release of the results will potentially be extended if the ‘effect’ carries on for more than a day.

Stay tuned!

[Update:] The results have been posted.  See how we managed…