designing features of social media sites or features integrating with social media sites
20
votes
9answers
1k views
Why is everybody using Facebook, is it good marketing or good usability?
Why is everybody using Facebook? Is it good marketing or good usability? If it's usability, what specifically do they offer that is different from others? I was happily doing social networking on ...
20
votes
12answers
954 views
Are 'share this' buttons really effective?
On a lot of websites (especially blogs), we find 'share it' buttons like this --> .
Personally, I never used one. If I want to share something online, I copy the link and manually share it through ...
17
votes
4answers
758 views
Is “Tweet to Unlock a Free Download” a dark pattern?
The Bricks seemed like an interesting free UI design resource, so I proceeded to attempt download and then I hit a "Tweet to Unlock" wall. This irked me... the resource is not free if there is forced ...
17
votes
2answers
298 views
Social media sharing: Does simply showing icons stimulate action?
This is tangentially related to the question "Social Media Icons - show all visible, or group under 'share'?".
In my organization, we've generally found that displaying the individual icons for ...
16
votes
10answers
2k views
Is it a good idea to enforce a minimum comment length?
In a social application focusing on a niche community where the level of comment quality matters, is it a good idea to enforce a minimum comment length?
For example, see this set of comments on a ...
11
votes
5answers
4k views
Should social sharing buttons be at the top or bottom of an article?
I can certainly see arguments for both sides of this one:
Buttons at the top: Easy to find, reliably positioned regardless of the article length. Extreme ease of sharing as you don't have to reach ...
11
votes
11answers
790 views
Changing Colour of Social Media buttons to match Colour Palette
I'm interested in getting opinions on changing the colour of social media buttons (facebook/twitter/linkedin sign-up and login as well as sharing) to better fit in with the colour pallet of our ...
10
votes
11answers
2k views
Creative alternatives for word 'Home' on a web application
What could be creative alternatives for word 'Home' on a social network applications that implies as a default space/ a living space or a place where all the updates gather?
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Best practices for Facebook Website Like vs Page Like
When you have a website http://website.com I feel like there are two choices of how to utilize Facebook's like button:
I can have users like the website itself and then monitor it via the ...
10
votes
4answers
817 views
Is there a reason to keep a Facebook 'Share' button?
For over a year now, the Like button enables you to add a comment, and it shares the story on Facebook with the thumbnail and all.
Although the share dialog gives more options to the user - they are ...
9
votes
2answers
231 views
“By posting this, you agree to our terms and conditions”
Is it okay to have a "By posting this, you agree to our terms and conditions" (i.e. like 4chan) as opposed to a "I agree to the terms and conditions" checkbox?
I read about automatic agreement to ...
8
votes
6answers
399 views
Should I style my buttons?
Are there any major advantages / disadvantages in styling ones buttons like Facebook, Twitter and StackExchange - vs. not styling them like Craigslist and 4chan?
8
votes
3answers
501 views
Why did they use two-stage social media sharing buttons?
I recently visited a seemingly fairly reputable web site and was astonished to see their implementation of a two-stage trigger for their social media buttons:
(The text appears when you hover over ...
7
votes
4answers
533 views
Why use a 3-column layout like StackExchange, Facebook and YouTube?
Why do sites like StackExchange, Facebook and YouTube center their content and reduce its width? As opposed to sites like Reddit that go full width.
Are they trying to spare the user from too much ...
7
votes
4answers
784 views
Social Login adoption vs Traditional Login
I have implemented janrain's social login on my website. I am wondering how important it is to include a traditional login (email/password) system.
I believe there may be a significant percentage of ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Optimal placement of share on Twitter/Facebook/social media widget on web page to encourage use
Like most every site out there, I develop a site where we encourage people to share the content through Twitter and Facebook.
Also, like most other sites, the placement of the widgets is in a fixed ...
6
votes
5answers
294 views
How many social buttons?
There are millions of social networks out there. Of the top popular ones, like Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.,
Q: How many, in numbers, should be put up at all?
UPDATE: Organization ...
6
votes
7answers
499 views
What could be an alternative for “Share this post with my network!” in a social application?
What could be an alternative word implying Share this post to my network! for use in a social application ?
6
votes
1answer
465 views
Share Buttons on Landing Page — Where to place them?
I've been reading up on share buttons in terms of placement, effectiveness, use, etc. However, the vast majority of resources are directed at blogs and other content oriented sites -- in fact, I ...
6
votes
5answers
547 views
Are social media icons as effective when grey-scale?
Social icons may be more noticeable in the header, but they can clutter they navigation.
Are social icons as effective in grey-scale? ie. Will users still see them in a group of links if they're not ...
6
votes
3answers
292 views
Do customized “Social Media Sharing Buttons” affect the amount of interaction?
When lots of social media sharing buttons are listed it tends to look like garbage (see below). However, all the buttons and icons are (kind of?) easy to associate with the respective sites. I wish ...
6
votes
1answer
138 views
Sign-in Methods for Visitors without Social Networking Profiles
If a visitor needs to sign-on at your site and they don't have any social profiles, their only option is to use a traditional (double opt-in) registration process. That is why websites should always ...
5
votes
2answers
208 views
Why are most social media web forms on the right hand side of the page now?
I am doing research into social media sites, and one thing I have noticed is that most of the main players in the social media and communication world (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Google) ...
5
votes
4answers
663 views
Social Media Icons - show all visible, or group under “share”?
I continually run into this issue on sites that want to offer social media links to share content on Facebook, Twitter, etc., and often to share via email or text message as well. Showing all of these ...
5
votes
2answers
197 views
How to create a public UX process?
I want to make an experiment. I have a new project that I don't mind opening to the public.
What I want to try is to use the public (e.g. Facebook) to go through a UX design process - from collecting ...
4
votes
8answers
520 views
Are breadcrumbs still in?
Despite NNGroup's praise, I notice none of the big players (StackExchange, Facebook, Google, YouTube) use breadcrumbs. None of the big ecommerce players either. Why is this?
Possible guesses:
Users ...
4
votes
6answers
281 views
What phrase would you use instead of “Likes” for an airline related forum?
Implementing a socially driven forum for a major Airline (similar to stackexchange I guess) and trying to come up with a different name for the "Likes" functionality which is essentially like the ...
4
votes
2answers
366 views
Why does the Google +1 button not change to a -1 once clicked?
When you +1 something on Google or Google+, the +1 button becomes red and clicking this red button will remove your +1 in the post.
Why was it designed like this? Changing the button color to red ...
4
votes
7answers
367 views
Would adding horizontal scrolling to Facebook profiles be a good idea?
I saw these designs by Fred Nerby. He proposed adding horizontal scrolling to Facebook profiles. Is this good UI?
4
votes
5answers
2k views
social share buttons best position
If you go to any site with content you will have social share buttons.
I was wondering where would you consider the best position for social buttons.
I saw 3 approaches:
bottom of the content page
...
4
votes
4answers
181 views
How to indicate a user is a full member or just a regular member?
I'm looking for some nice ways to visualize whether a user is a full member or a regular member. Assume a Facebook-style website with full membership option.
The profiles will be displayed as blocks ...
4
votes
2answers
885 views
Another word for a group of people
I am creating a facility to allow people to create groups to put people in that they like to keep in touch. I need a name for these groups and the obvious answer is 'group'. However, groups are ...
4
votes
2answers
163 views
Should we still provide social sharing options in a responsive design?
Since the majority of the browsers on small devices (and Safari on desktop as well) already provide a function where the user can share the content on—for example—Twitter, should we still ...
4
votes
2answers
99 views
'Liking' Sensitive Events on Social Media: Contextual Icons and Words for Approval/Agreement
Prompted by recent events. The use of a Like icon (whether thumbs up or otherwise) is fine on social media for lots of things, but certain subjects and events should not be "liked" or use such a ...
4
votes
4answers
537 views
Why are foursquare tweets not annoying?
(First off, this is from the perspective of UX and behavior analysis)
There are a bunch of services that use platforms like twitter or facebook to publish the change of state in their own systems.
...
4
votes
3answers
118 views
Should users of a social app be required to send/accept friend requests?
I'm currently working on a social music-based application that, among other things, allows users to recommend music to their friends. In trying to pare down the system to be as simple and ...
4
votes
6answers
489 views
Layout suggestions for social media sharing page
I need to make a "Share This Site" page that offer all the regular social sharing mediums and send to a friend email option.
With
Facebook like
facebook share
ReTweet this
Digg
Buzz
delicious
email
...
4
votes
1answer
274 views
Instant Facebook 'Like' or link to Facebook page
I'm currently working on a youth brand project at work.
We need a Facebook link on the webpage to link to the Facebook page.
I believe that it should be a 'Like' button with a possible counter next ...
4
votes
5answers
434 views
Should social media sharing icons be placed on the homepage as well as article pages?
I'm working on an online magazine, and we are considering which pages in the sitemap should have social media sharing icons.
We have looked at four examples of related precedent sites throughout this ...
3
votes
6answers
78 views
How do you convince people that social software applications are good for business? [closed]
We're trying to introduce social software applications into our organisation but attempts thus far are meeting resistance because:
we're a large, conservative organisation that will always be a late ...
3
votes
4answers
299 views
Why don't Facebook and Google+ use face recognition tools for user profile pics?
Is there any reason they're not using a face recognition tools to see if someone has uploaded an avatar or a non-person picture like nature, building,etc? Will this rule limit users or frustrate them? ...
3
votes
3answers
98 views
What is the best approach to design registration page
I have seen users (including me) who get frustrating registration page and eventually decide to quit the site. (To be frank few of my friends left registration due to annoying captca verification) As ...
3
votes
3answers
215 views
Should a Tweet button yield a suggested Tweet over 140 characters?
I found the Stack Exchange Tweet Buttons can do exactly this and posted a Meta question about it.
The Tweet Button is for instant, easy sharing, but sometimes an article title can be too long to fit ...
3
votes
2answers
165 views
Is there an elegant way of sharing content that's already in a lightbox?
I'm working on a site that has a lightbox to showcase some content (yes, it needs to be a lightbox, for reasons I won't go into here).
The client wants to give users the option to share content ...
3
votes
5answers
221 views
Suitable positions for social links on a website
I was just wondering if there is any research done into the ideal position to place social links (such as the links to the company's Facebook,twitter and Linkedin page).
I have seen them placed in ...
3
votes
3answers
805 views
How to align social buttons without losing vertical space?
I've add in some social buttons to one of our pages. I don't want to have to put them in a horizontal row because that'll push more products down below the fold.
This is my idea so far:
Close ...
3
votes
2answers
187 views
Should a site have separate buttons for social media sharing and following?
Following: 'following' a business on Twitter or 'liking' a business on Facebook, or subscribing to their YouTube channel.
Sharing: posting something on their wall/Twitter or their content on your ...
3
votes
3answers
247 views
Best way to present toggles for sharing on other social networks?
I'm trying to come up with a way to display toggles for whether you want to share your status on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. This is intended for a web application.
I looked at a couple of other ...
2
votes
2answers
52 views
Upon the launch of a new site - add big slide-down / lightbox explanation?
Upon the launch of say a new social media site - is it appropriate to do a big slide-down / lightbox to explain what the site is about - or to let users figure things out for themselves?
Former:
...
2
votes
3answers
430 views
Should I use customized social buttons
I am facing a cornelian choice.
Should I use custom social sharing buttons for UI consistency or should I keep them original for better recognition ?
