Here’s a heads-up that you might have already noticed - social media buttons are an endangered species.Interactive designer Oliver Reichenstein lit a fire with his blog post Sweep the Sleaze a couple of months ago.
Social media buttons are not a social media strategy, even though they’re often sold that way. Excellent content, serious networking and constant human engagement is the way to build your profile. Adding those sleazy buttons won’t achieve anything. Social media is not easy — there is no simple trick. Usually, what most people do is not the winning strategy but the safe strategy, and safe rarely wins.
It’s a thought-provoking piece and well worth a read. The follow-up also has some very interesting data and observations.
“One argument in favor of sharing buttons is the psychological phenomenon of “social proof,” where a person entering a new environment tends to conform to the behavior demonstrated by others. [...] “just look at all these other people who already have!” [...] We also know that many people share content because it makes them look smart and well-informed. Part of that is being among the first to have shared it, and thus not sharing something that’s already well-circulated. In this way, a sharing button could limit the potential spread of your best content.”
I don’t have a lot to add other than to say I strongly agree with the above. I would also add to the list of social media button sins that they’re really ugly. I can’t count the number of nice designs I’ve seen ruined by some mismatched social buttons plonked down on the page.
There’s a quote from a Telegraph interview with Apple’s industrial designer, Jonathan Ivy, that seems relevant:
“Our goal isn’t to make money. Our goal absolutely at Apple is not to make money. This may sound a little flippant, but it’s the truth,” said the British designer. “Our goal and what gets us excited is to try to make great products. We trust that if we are successful people will like them, and if we are operationally competent we will make revenue, but we are very clear about our goal.”
In the same way that you make money by focusing on making great products, you’ll get social media coverage by focusing on making great products. You should trust that if you are successful people will like and tweet and pin their hearts out!
The point is, don’t be desperate. Engage honestly with the community, not as part of some convoluted social media strategy but out of a genuine desire to connect what you’re doing to the wider world. To echo Oliver Reichenstein’s point again, this is not a call to get rid of all social media links on your website, but rather to think deeply about them, place them carefully, and craft the experience.