So what makes Su.pr different from the others? Su.pr is designed for publishers and allows them to broadcast their content across Facebook and Twitter (for now) as well as StumbleUpon. The free syndication tool also tells publishers the best time to post their content and lets them see real-time analytics on clicks, tweets, and traffic associated with posts.

Katie Sween, the Head of Marketing at StumbleUpon says the main reason Su.pr is different from the other url shorteners is because:

“…We [StumbleUpon] really are focused around helping the best content get more exposure… so the traffic element really is one of the biggest differentiators between us and some of the other shortened url services.”

Social media expert Brent Csutoras says the service really is super and claims it is, “…one of the most feature filled shorteners to date.”

StumbleUpon granted WebProNews 250 invite accounts to Su.pr. So, if you would like to try out the free service before it goes into public beta, you can enter: suprwebpro into the homepage of Su.pr. Try it out and let us know what you think.

Many social networks were intended to be fun and should still be fun, even though they are now incorporated into business operations. Social media provides many cost-effective opportunities for businesses such as brand-building and reputation management, but websites still need to have quality content.

StumbleUpon comes into the game here since it tries to help the content providers connect with their brands. Katie says StumbleUpon listens and engages with users and also aims to make themselves available to users. The companies and brands that understand this “push and pull” concept are approaching social the right way.

Recently, StumbleUpon announced that is was no longer a part of eBay. The company is now in the hands of its original founders and a few other investors. While under eBay, Katie says the company was able to focus entirely on their product. As a result, they experienced unprecedented growth.

While very thankful for eBay, StumbleUpon is excited to be a start-up again. Katie says the company has more freedom and liberty now that they are independent. To give an example of those new opportunities, StumbleUpon just released a few enhancements to their Web Stumbling function. (Web Stumbling is the act of stumbling without downloading the toolbar.)

With Web Stumbling, StumbleUpon wanted to make stumbling accessible from any computer or browser. StumbleUpon revealed these enhancements to WebProNews:

Fully Personalized Experience – Now you can expect the same high-quality and personalized recommendations that you receive from your downloaded toolbar.  And you can access it from any computer, and from any browser… just visit StumbleUpon.com and login to get a personalized stumbling experience.

Web Stumbling syncs with your toolbar activity – Use Web Stumbling to rate, review and share content and all your activities will be saved for you in your profile and will influence your future recommendations.  For example, Web Stumbling in Safari or Opera would use ratings given using the Firefox or IE toolbars, and anything you rate will improve your recommendations on any platform.

Enhancements to Sharing – When sharing websites while Web Stumbling, you now have the ability to share with several friends at once, post sites directly to your Facebook profile, and even have conversations about the websites you share with your friends.

For more information, check out Chris Crum’s write-up or visit StumbleUpon.

What are your social media best practices? And how do you see StumbleUpon’s Web Stumbling enhancements supporting your social efforts?