Wander: A StumbleUpon-inspired tool for discovering the small web

Wander is an open-source community project that enables users to create a StumbleUpon-like experience for discovering favourite websites. The tool is aimed at discovering the so-called small web – personal and independent websites that remain overshadowed by larger platforms.

The web has seen renewed interest in the so-called small web – personal blogs, niche sites and independent websites – and a new open-source project called Wander wants to make discovering it easier. The tool is inspired by StumbleUpon, which became popular in the 2000s and allowed users to randomly browse the web and discover new interesting pages.

What does Wander do?

Wander is a community project that lets users curate their own lists of favourite websites and share them with others in StumbleUpon style – that is, jump to a random site with a single click. Unlike major social media platforms, Wander's focus is on that part of the web that goes largely unnoticed in the age of algorithms.

Open source and community

Because it's an open-source project, developers and enthusiasts can freely contribute to it and adapt the tool to their needs. The community approach means the list of recommendations grows as quickly as users themselves want to contribute. This sets Wander apart from commercially-backed platforms, where content visibility is influenced by advertising money and algorithms.

Wander is a response to a broader movement seeking to restore the internet to its original diversity and character – before large platforms began dictating what content people see.