Am I missing something, or have the social buttons under the vote counter disappeared (network-wide)?
I must say, I know that a lot of folks (especially on SO) found the visual noise obnoxious, but I used them with some regularity.
Previously:
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3 Answers
They were removed last week. They apparently saw "abysmal" usage rates and Kevin Montrose had been itching to remove them. I specifically mentioned that sites like UX likely use the sharing buttons a lot more than Stack Overflow (I was afraid SO likely heavily biases their opinion on the matter) but he said their usage was mostly the same across the network, and that while UX had more sharing than most it wasn't enough to keep the buttons around.
Remember you can share any post (question or answer) with the aptly titled link link at the bottom of the post:
Note links shared from that URL count toward the Announcer/ect badge.
I've suggested the buttons be moved into the link link under each post on Meta Stack Overflow.
answered Jun 26, 2012 at 18:21
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2I'm still not sure of the benefit to removing them. Really, was page load speed seriously a problem with those options? And it's not as if there is anything else that watch itching to take the place of those buttons either. Although I don't want to just stuff elements into the page just because there is room (white space = good and all that) those sharing options had a useful function on this site. Now I have to copy, paste and have to think of what to write in my sharing tweets now!– JonW ModJun 26, 2012 at 18:27
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2@JonW people said the share your answer thing was annoying (it was in full bold and appeared in an awkward flash when you posted your answer). No idea why it was necessary to remove the sharing buttons other than some grouchy anti-sharing people. Jun 26, 2012 at 18:34
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No surprise here, I'm sure: Woo hoo for a cleaner look!! Though I never used them, I think it would be nice to have the previous share functionality baked into the "link" dialog for those that did.– KarenJun 27, 2012 at 21:33
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@Karen that's actually exactly what I've suggested here: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/136760/… Jun 27, 2012 at 21:35
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I think we need to at least ask for them back... it is really bugging me not being able to share posts with one click. Jun 29, 2012 at 12:32
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1@LisaTweedie you could either vote up the question/answer here: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/136760/… or make a formal request on Meta Stack Overflow too, that's where the cross-network feature requests go Jun 29, 2012 at 13:03
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2Hey, let's design some counter-intuitive buttons in an odd place and then complain that they don't get used! That makes sense!– RahulJul 3, 2012 at 10:04
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1@Rahul and then make them annoying to prove that users don't like them, of course. Jul 3, 2012 at 13:33
Now this is offically implemented: Add social media sharing icons to the “link” popup.
Click the Share link below and post to share it; question or answer!
answered Jul 24, 2012 at 1:09
There's now a userscript to impliment my suggestion: Add Share buttons to the “link” box. Chrome/Firefox users can put this to use until SE changes something with sharing (if they do).
answered Jun 29, 2012 at 15:39