I noticed a lot of blogs have a ton of social media icons them. Is this necessary? I think it clutters the blog.
Do you need all of the social icons on your blog?
(6 posts) (4 voices)
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Hi Ralph
No it's not 'necessary', unless you want to increase the number of readers to your blog.
Social media is a great way to promote your blog and attract others to it - the more social networks the broader your reach.
However, that doesn't mean they need to look cluttered - that's a matter of style preference. You can control the size and placement of the icons to suit you, but remember that if others can't find them, they can't use them, so you want to keep them front and center, so they won't be overlooked.
Posted 6 months ago # -
The only things that really matter are Facebook and Twitter. Things like YouTube and Flickr aren't really social networks per se. If you want to gain a following on those sites, you need to really focus on networking with people on those platforms. Moreover, if they find your content, they'll know how to follow you.
Posted 6 months ago # -
You bring up a very valid point, Gary - I was really thinking more about the social icons people use to share a post with others - I do think that at the end of a post it's a good practice to display the sharing icons to make it easy for people to do so, and there are still quite a few people who use Digg, Reddit, Furl, and other bookmarking/sharing sites so why limit where your post can be shared? I definitely include Facebook, Twitter, and Stumbleupon there. I get slightly annoyed when I read a post somewhere that I really like, but the author hasn't made it easy for me to tweet it.....
BUT aside from sharing posts, definitely for 'connecting' with an author or blog owner, I totally agree that the only two that matter these days are Facebook and Twitter. I encourage people to use those two, and to display icons somewhere near the top of their site to make it easy for people to Follow them, or become a Friend or Fan.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I've tried using almost every widget and plugin which is available for WordPress. Despite the conventional wisdom, I have never seen any bump in traffic from any network (Digg, SU, Reddit) from having those buttons. Never. Moreover, I can't say I've ever used those buttons when I've been on other sites.
The only case I can think of where I'd use a widget like that is if I got a lot of traffic from Digg and then I'd put a Digg button at the TOP of the page. Once the Digg traffic falls off, I'd probably take the widget off the page.
I suppose you can say there is no harm in having them, but I don't think they do much either.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Hey Ralph,
My experience is a little of everything. I keep the icons because once in a while it make a big difference. I have done quite well with Stumble Upon, as example on some articles and almost nothing with other articles and social networking sites.
However, my bigger goal is to create relationships with people who are genuinely interested in what I have to say and want to create a dialog on the subjects that are important to me and people who have more than a passing interest.
Unfortunately, I cannot track where those people come from, but I can say a few religiously promote stories through del.icio.us and similar sites, which is worth the space the plugin takes up.
Good luck,
DevinPosted 6 months ago #
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