30 comments

  • Mikey ClarkeMikey Clarke, over 5 years ago

    I either manually share or use Safari or Tweetbot’s share buttons. I don’t think I’ve ever used a share button on a website.

    7 points
  • Benjamin FritzBenjamin Fritz, over 5 years ago

    If people wanna share they share. Simple as that. Buttons just slow down your site.

    5 points
    • Murat MutluMurat Mutlu, over 5 years ago

      Lost count of how many articles I would have shared but couldn't find a button so didn't share

      9 points
      • Benjamin FritzBenjamin Fritz, over 5 years ago

        If I really value the content and want to share it with my folks I go every extra mile. And I like that it is that way. If the effort for sharing is too much for me than the content wasn't good enough.

        2 points
  • Beth DeanBeth Dean, over 5 years ago

    I discovered something really interesting about this recently. Backstory: I work for a social analytics company, and we provide our customers share buttons which generate tracking links so users can understand which channels perform, what content gets shared etc. Last year we started offering address bar tracking as well. At the end of last year we ran some campaigns for a very major retail brand, and were astonished to find that 90% of their sharing came from the address bar. In many cases people barely touch the buttons, so most people are unable to account for 80-90% of their social traffic.

    5 points
    • Dirk HCM van BoxtelDirk HCM van Boxtel, over 5 years ago

      Amazeballs. I'd be interested in hearing more details :]

      0 points
      • Beth DeanBeth Dean, over 5 years ago

        Hilariously the company almost didn't implement the address bar tracking. They would've had no idea how much money they made off of people sharing their content / products.

        1 point
        • Dirk HCM van BoxtelDirk HCM van Boxtel, over 5 years ago

          Well, that's because tracking and statistics are an utter waste of time. You're better off building more functionality.

          [/sarcasm]

          0 points
  • Phil RauPhil Rau, over 5 years ago

    Relevant: http://ia.net/blog/sweep-the-sleaze-reactions/

    4 points
    • barry saundersbarry saunders, over 5 years ago

      Belam's article has some good actual data in it. Lot of designers who argue against social media buttons forget the first rule of design (you are not your user).

      Also, social media buttons are handy for tracking social media sharing via Google Analytics event tracking.

      2 points
  • Tor Løvskogen BollingmoTor Løvskogen Bollingmo, over 5 years ago

    Manually, and I always edit the copy. Those buttons are ugly and makes a design look cheap. Keep in mind you are asking a design crowd, not the average visitor.

    3 points
  • Jared KrauseJared Krause, over 5 years ago (edited over 5 years ago )

    I usually look for the share buttons. Stories should come with a prewritten tweet and intended hashtag; I like to format it the way the author intended, then add my 2¢.

    Plus, it's much easier.

    2 points
  • Charlie PrattCharlie Pratt, over 5 years ago

    Copy/paste. Always. It's ingrained in my mind and my fingers.

    1 point
  • Giulio MichelonGiulio Michelon, over 5 years ago

    cmd + L, cmd + C, cmd + V

    1 point
  • Graham KinsingerGraham Kinsinger, over 5 years ago

    I tend to use the share buttons pretty frequently on mobile, it's just a couple steps easier. That said, I rarely use them otherwise.

    1 point
  • Bill BBill B, over 5 years ago

    Copy url. Paste in email, twitter, etc. Send.

    1 point
  • Jeremy TreudenJeremy Treuden, over 5 years ago

    Really, I never use share buttons. Sometimes with Twitter, but nothing else.

    1 point
  • Updula LeeUpdula Lee, over 5 years ago

    If I want to add my own comment to the URL, I do it manually, otherwise, I use the sharing buttons.

    0 points
  • Andrew LucasAndrew Lucas, over 5 years ago

    The one place I do use them is YouTube, not really sure why. Think it's the guaranteed preview / thumbnail.

    0 points
    • Travis VocinoTravis Vocino, over 5 years ago

      The thumbnail and associated information is generated from the itemprop schema on the page being linked to.

      0 points
  • Christina FowlerChristina Fowler, over 5 years ago

    I always use the buttons :)

    I prefer it that way although I often edit down if it's too long or too many hashtags - Vimeo I'm looking at YOU!

    0 points
  • Dirk HCM van BoxtelDirk HCM van Boxtel, over 5 years ago

    Copy paste. Always. I don't trust like buttons.

    Also, I have this thing where I just want a post to be perfect down to the last punctuation mark, so I'll write all of it myself.

    0 points
  • Viktor TViktor T, over 5 years ago (edited over 5 years ago )

    I always look for Facebooks share button when sharing to Facebook. Not any other button though.

    0 points
  • Chad EngleChad Engle, over 5 years ago

    I copy/paste because I like to track clicks on the links I tweet. I also sometimes edit the titles, use a quote or something else than the articles headline. I don't know (outside of a facebook like or testing to see if social buttons work) that I've EVER used them.

    0 points
  • Nicola RushtonNicola Rushton, over 5 years ago

    I use Pinterest share buttons if they're on the image I want to pin. I also use tweet buttons at the end of articles regularly. Never share to facebook though.

    0 points
  • Iain Acton, over 5 years ago

    I only use the share button for G+

    0 points
  • John LockeJohn Locke, over 5 years ago

    A more relevant question would be whether your site users use share buttons or manually share.

    0 points
  • Jonathan YapJonathan Yap, over 5 years ago

    No buttons, I either manual copy/paste or flip it bookmarklet into my flipboard magazine. :)

    0 points
  • Katie HarronKatie Harron, over 5 years ago

    I use a Twitter bookmarklet if I want to share, so no, I don't use share buttons if they're on a page.

    0 points