undefined | Better HN

0 pointsRandom_Person14y ago0 comments

Are there better alternatives? (I ask this question honestly)

As a web master of a very small, personal site, I find that running AddThis or something similar to be vital in generating traffic. Giving users a one click option to share my pages makes it much more likely that they will. Without that option, I have to resort to spamming message boards, Twitter, Facebook, etc manually, in order to drive traffic. I am not opposed to that option, as my site has no way of generating revenue and likely never will... I'm just looking for engagement from readers and ways to generate more readers.

0 comments

4 comments · 1 top-level

malandrew14y ago· 3 in thread

This makes me wonder if there is value in someone creating a Facebook Like button, Google +1 button, etc. widget set that doesn't keep any tracking data and only sends information about a user to Facebook, Google, etc. when a user explicitly clicks on the button.

Random_PersonOP14y ago

Yep! The question is whether to give it away or try to find a way to monetize it. I'd buy it, but I'm not sure how much I'd pay for it.

I don't give a crud about the analytics of AddThis, and their menu is full of options that most will never use. The key point is sharing for the lazy. The vast majority of Internet users are never going to open their Facebook, write a wall post about something and copy/paste my link in their post. That same person, however, may be really interested in it and be willing to hit a little button that does all that stuff for them. That's all I want. I don't want to jeopardize people's privacy.

iliis14y ago

Heise developed this last year. They made a two-stage like-button which is disabled by default and sends no data to FB et al. When you first click on it, the real button loads and you can then share what you want.

http://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/2-Klicks-fuer-mehr-Datenschut... [german]

Random_PersonOP14y ago

That's really interesting. I like the concept, but would most users only click once because that's what they are used to? The interface doesn't seem to be that obvious for a non-technical person.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse