Social media buttons in forums
 

The little icons you see in forum posts are social media sharing buttons -whee!!!

These are part of an upgrade to our forum software so feel free to play around with them! Sharing is caring!!! :D

is there one for facebook?

Can you expand on that so us (me) not so savy internet user knows what you are talking about? ;)

Sure! If you click them you can share posts on social media sites like Technorati, Digg, etc. Right now, Twitter and Facebook aren't in those icons but hopefully those can be added. Since we just did the update we need to tweak it and play around with our options :)

Can anyone link a post or card to the social media sites with the new icons or just the person who created the post?

I was wondering what those were. I just saw them for the first time, this evening.

I still don't know what all of them do. But I'll figure it out sooner or later.

That's how I get around the internet...By doing.

Really don't understand why this was added.

ANyone who knows how to cut and paste could have shared your posts before now.

So what's the point?

The point is that if you are going to stop posting because someone could share your post then it's a bit late.

eta .. or do you mean what's the point of sharing or social networking? I have no idea on that one ;)

I mean:

What's the point of having the buttons when there was always a way to do it in the first place?

And "I may never post again" was actually intended as sarcasm. I'm not that dramatic.

I'm willing to bet that someone here will be that dramatic. :o

:mrgreen:

http://www.millan.net/minimations/sm...amasmileyf.gif

Ha! Well anyone can link to public forum posts now, so it's not worth drama :)

LOL! I thought it was pretty nice that SCS was a social networking site unto itself. . .

I just think they unnecessarily clutter the posts. I can't have a blinkie but everyone has to have these little buttons under everything? Sigh.

I agree ~ and it's just the beginning.

Does this benefit SCS in some way or is it just intended as a 'convenience' to the members?

Just curious.

Okay everyone :). This is new with a software update. We've done zero customization, haven't played with it whatsoever. If you can just survive until we have had a chance to take a look at it and figure out how we want to use it I promise everything will be okay. :)

I personally have no doubts that everything will be "okay."

But seriously . . . SCS adds icons with links to other sites to every post, that just appear without any explanation or notice?

I can't believe it wasn't expected that there would be questions. And it's puzzling to me that it's done before you know how you "want to use it."

In the past, changes like that were usually explained with the logic or purpose behind it in advance. I guess this time it's just different.

ETA: Really not meaning to give you a hard time, Lydia :) . Guess this event is somehow a "hot button" for me. . . *groan* LOL!! I'll pipe down now ;) .

Other random thought: setting aside that I personally don't like these buttons at all, it might kinda make sense to have these buttons on the first post of a thread, so you can mark the thread or highlight the thread. But it doesn't seem nearly so necessary to have it on all the replies. Usually, a reply's no good without reference to the OP anyhow. And if I'm going to tag a certain reply for my own reference, I'm gonna just bookmark it at that reply.

Hmm, I don't like the visual clutter but I CAN see the point. I wish some of the more techie forums I occasionally use would have something like this, because Delicious is great for tagging and finding things, easier than browser bookmarks.
Hey Nancy, I love your drama smilie - I need that one for DH, LOL.

Hey - is it also part of the upgrade that when I posted the hyperlink to here in another thread, I was only cutting and pasting the link because it's time I was getting dressed and ready for work, but it automatically formatted it so it shows with the thread title? Cool, if that's so.

Lydia, I think the buttons are FANTASTIC and can't wait for the Facebook one!

Social Media is just a way to share what we love in every aspect we want/can. Just because some people may not like them, there are those of us that LOVE them! So if it's something you don't like/want, you don't have to use them. Surely seeing four little buttons on a post isn't enough to ruin your day?

And Lydia, like Cook22 LOOOOOVE that we don't have to format our links anymore, that is GENIUS!!!!!!!!!

Are we not able to see them on our own posts? Because I see them on everyone's but my own!:)

[QUOTE]Can anyone link a post or card to the social media sites with the new icons or just the person who created the post?[QUOTE]

I realize someone could cut and paste before to put something out on the internet but I am not sure I like the fact that it is now just a click away.

I am still interested in knowing if I can link someone else work or comments using this new links or if I can just link my own comments.

Also, I believe someone else asked but is there a way to opt out of this feature?

[QUOTE=michelel;17049536][QUOTE]Can anyone link a post or card to the social media sites with the new icons or just the person who created the post?
It appears that anyone can share/link anyone else's posts at the moment.

Sorry Lydia. I'm with Gale. When share on Facebook was brought on board SCS without any notice -there was a lot of fuss -and we got to opt out, which I've done.

Yes, I use facebook - but I like to control - to the extent I can - what is on my facebook what others can take from my posts on SCS and plunk onto their facebook page.

I don't exactly know what they mean either;)

A few quick things:

The link formatting appears to be part of this upgrade and of course you can still modify that in advanced mode, so that is pretty cool. I'm traveling, so I haven't looked at the settings for this, but that was a nice surprise.

I think what people aren't understanding is that the addition of icons for bookmarking public content does not change anything at all about privacy or the site.

If you log out of our site, and look at what content is visible to non-registered users, that is the information that can be shared via bookmarking/social media sites. Bookmarking sites make your internet browsing easier because, as someone said - no matter where you are logged on, your bookmarks are available to you via these services.

You would be able to share that exact same information by simply copying and pasting a link anywhere, so privacy is absolutely no different. It's the addition of a convenience for users who use those sites, not an intrusion on anyone who doesn't.

For example, go to forums that aren't visible to unregistered users, like the Demo Forums, or the Fan Club, etc. You will not see the icons there because they're not public forums.

So again, nothing changes about what is visible to the public and what is not. There's just some cute little icons that help social media users and bookmark users do what they're already enjoying doing right now - organizing their internet content to make life easier, and sharing things that they enjoy (that are already public) on the internet.

And Deborah - no one can share anything on *your* facebook page, btw. The facebook sharing option allows users to post things they enjoy on *their* facebook pages. Again, things that are already public, and that they could share anyway via a link.

Every click to the site (via links posted elsewhere) is $$$ for SCS owners.

There should be an opt out button for people that prefer not to have their posts shared via social networking.

I have a question-- a lot, actually because I don't 'so' an social networking except here, so I don't understand quite a few things.

Has this slowed down the site at all? My experience last night and this morning has been very slow for loading pages. I haven't checked out any other site except SCS but this is tedious. Maybe there is no connection.

Lydia, I have thought this more than once. You are so good at the computer aspect of your Moderator position as well as keeping the peace and always being gracious. Thank you for being so nice about things!

Thank you :) xo

I'm glad you said that because I experienced that slowness this morning but thought it was the wireless connection in my hotel. I will report that now. The icons are a teeny part of a large software update, so odds are it's something else. Thanks for telling me!

Agreed.

While that may be true - it's much easier to * share * information at the touch of a button. I would prefer to have an opt out button.

I realize that if someone wants, they can email my card to someone, or link them to it -but that's a lot more bother than just a click of a facebook button.

I would prefer to have a opt out button.

Sorry about that! That's just my preference.

I notice that the buttons are not in the CE area, which is good. But I'd prefer to have that option everywhere.

I second this motion.

I find it interesting that the links are not in the demo section or fan club sections yet they are in the open forums.

If you read a little back I explain that. What can be shared is what is already viewable by anyone, even non members. If it's visible to the world, it continues to be visible to the world :)

I have read the thread but in my opinion this just makes it too easy for someone to share via social networking sites. I really people can copy and paste to the social sites but now it just seems, again to me, that this advertises to people to share other peoples work on other sites. Sometimes out of site is out of mind.

I was not pleased when the facebook option was added but was pleased when an opt out option was given. It would be nice to be given this option again. I believe that most of the people that visit this site on a regular basis would and do respect other peoples choice not to have their work posted on social networking sites.

I realize that I am in the minority in my opinion but thought I would just share my 2 cents on the matter.

Well, my first thought was that even though people have always had the ability to cut and paste anything and post it on another site, the buttons just make it more convenient for them to do so. So, since they are here, I guess I'll just have to make sure I don't post anything I wouldn't want the world to see :). Self-policing... it's always been a good idea.