Share this buttons - Are they clutter or a useful feature?

[Farser]

Hi

I have recently been looking into share this buttons. These can be found on many major websites especially news and blogs, and are often suggested as a good way to increase traffic by allowing users to quickly share content through multiple mediums.

Does anybody have any experience of these. Are they actually used by visitors enough to justify inclusion the potential clutter they add to a page?

Personally I rarely use any apart from the e-mail option although I am active on several social bookmarking websites.

Cheers

[bill]

I've got myself trained to ignore those buttons. If I'm using a social bookmarking service then I've probably got shortcut links in my browser or a specialized toolbar.

[rogerd]

I think they add value for some users. I have had measurable results from their use. Nothing that sent traffic through the roof, but if you can get even a few people per day to refer your stuff to their friends, or their network of friends, it will add up over time.

The key thing, IMO, is to offer the right choices. Sites with long, thoughtful articles are unlikely to get traction on Digg, for example. Twitter is great in some markets, but has almost no penetration of the 12-17 age range. By having the right links you increase the chance of usage. An "email this" button is always a good choice.

[maximillianos]

We offer the mainstream options like Facebook, email and print. I think we also have Digg and LinkedIn. We also provide HTML to folks who want to link to a page, but may not know html.

We keep it subtle. There is small link that says "share" that expands once you click on it to show the options.