Harnad, Stevan. "Post-Gutenberg Galaxy: The Fourth Revolution
in the Means of Production of Knowledge." The Public-Access
Computer Systems Review 2, no. 1 (1991): 39-53.
very interesting summary of communications revolutions, and the author's 1991 experiments with internet Discussion Groups
From the page: "Often the best sites are the hardest ones to find, and stumbleupon lets you share these gems you come across with other community members."
this service poses an interesting challenge for stumbleupon -- it's similar in principle to some of gmc's original research in social search technology.
i think stumbleupon still has competitive advantages: its collection of demographic data, and the network of friends, both of which can be leveraged to deliver better content and more narrowly targeted advertising. that and a library of rated sites.
whether stumbleupon decides to pursue improvements, or allows buzzbox to become the google to stumbleupon's yahoo, is another story.
i can understand why nsa would want to scan all the traffic crossing through main internet hubs... it's a great way to potentially overhear something important. if you look at unencrypted internet traffic as information flowing through a "public space", one might even consider the eavesdropping to be legal and legitimate. unfortunately for most of us citizens, keeping our internet communications and activities private is technically challenging, and in many cases impossible.
when the population is extricated from passive entertainment and exposed to media that encourage active collaborative contribution, we can create incredible things together