Have you ever used the Share This feature on someone's blog you enjoyed?

[Lynn Terry]

As you know I have social media sharing buttons below each post on ClickNewz, and they do get used quite a bit. Definitely been beneficial to my blog in regards to sharing & viral reach.

[NicoleDean]

I think I'll continue down the path I was headed and just offer a few options rather than the whole "Share This" plugin.

Maybe I don't get it, but it just didn't stand out enough, and when I did click on it, there were way too many options that I just figured no one would use it.

So, if I offered Twitter, StumbleUpon... what else is a "must have"?

Thanks!
N

[TraciKnoppe]

I would perhaps include Digg and Facebook in there too, possibly FriendFeed and a print option.

I use either of these two WordPress plugins: Sociable or Sexy Bookmarks. Both are really good, with easy to see icons.

[retta719]

I'm using the Tweet This plugin that lets you pick a handful of socialized buttons to include. I think I have twitter, digg, stumble, facebook, and buzz ... or something like that.

[drmani]

Very interesting thread, thanks for asking that question, Nicole.

I use an 'Add This' button on my blog, but haven't tracked how many
readers use it. It is a (pleasant) surprise to see just how often this
feature might be helpful (I personally copy-paste the URL into Twitter
or an email).

Will re-look at my blog's 'referral system' again - and tweak/test it.

All success
Dr.Mani

[bar2k]

I would perhaps include Digg and Facebook in there too, possibly FriendFeed and a print option.

I use either of these two WordPress plugins: Sociable or Sexy Bookmarks. Both are really good, with easy to see icons.

Great information. Do you know which plugin Lynn use on clicknewz to get those nice bookmarks at the end of each post? I find that the Sharethis plugin is not too obvious.

[NicoleDean]

Well, I've dumped "Share this" and have switched over to Sociable. (Thanks for the recommendation!) Here's the plugin if anyone else is looking for it:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sociable/

Take a look. I think the text above the buttons should be more appealing, but at least it's better than it was. Agree?
http://www.nicoleonthenet.com/3683/p...tter-t-shirts/

N

[cindybidar]

I honestly never thought about this before, but I don't use any of these plugins. I copy and paste the url. Creature of habit, I guess. I do have Sexy Bookmarks on my own blog, though.

But I did want to point out that I find share this to be really annoying on other sites. I invariably mouse over the link, then the whole window opens, and then the darn thing won't close. It just sits there, obscuring the text. It's probably user error, I know, but I've learned to hate that plugin.

[deannatroupe]

I use the tweetmeme button to tweet blog posts I find interesting. I find that I'm a lot less likely to share a blog post if it doesn't have that feature. I trust tweetmeme so I don't mind allowing them to access my twitter account.

[BoK]

Hi Nicole,

Just a quick note here. Although I think the Share This plugin is nicely designed and all, including not only a wide variety of alternatives for the social-bookmarking fan, as well as emailing functionality, I still think it suffers from a big problem.

The problem is that one doesn't visually SEE the icons of the social sites until one has clicked on the Share This button. So even though it has the capability of embracing many social sites, I believe it suffers from this "one-step-too-much" problem.

Personally, I like Sociable as a Wordpress plugin, and I use it on EbookBrothers.com. I think it does the job better than ShareThis, although I do miss the email functionality.

Take care!
Bo
EbookBrothers.com
Example using Sociable Wordpress plugin on EbookBrothers.com