The document discusses the emergence and prevalence of social sharing buttons on websites, known as "share widgets". It provides statistics on the widespread use of like and share buttons on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. The document also covers the business benefits of share widgets, such as increased customer engagement, sales, and access to user data. Potential future applications and some concerns about overuse of sharing options are presented as well.

1. By: David Stein
MKTG 7546 – Professor Brey
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2. Emergence
Prevalence
Relevance
Implications
Case Studies
Potential Application
Interview with Colin McCloskey
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3.  Social Bookmarking
◦ “the practice of saving bookmarks to a public Web
site and “tagging” them with keywords” (Educause)
 Del.icio.us, Reddit, Stumbleupon
 Facebook
 Twitter
 LinkedIn
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4.  Every 20 minutes over 1Million “likes” are
uploaded to Facebook (SocialHype)
 Users generate an average of 2.7 Billion
“likes” and “comments” per day. (NY Daily
News)
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5.  Ease of use
 Access to information
 Access to entertainment
 Shrinks the world
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6.  Ease of Use
 Relevance of content
 Network effect
 Value Add
 Data Mining
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7.  Ease of use
 Allows users to share your content AND
remain on your website
 Word of mouth/referential marketing
 Data Mining
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8.  Enhanced:
◦ Accessibility
◦ Relationships
◦ Business/customer knowledge
◦ Revenue streams
◦ PURCHASES and SALES
 Decreased
◦ Privacy
◦ Anonymity
◦ Individuality
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9.  Statistics as of around March 2011
◦ LinkedIn – 100 million registered users
◦ Facebook – 620 million registered users
◦ Twitter – 175 million registered users
◦ LinkedIn – 1.5 click backs
◦ Facebook – 1.7 click backs
◦ Twitter – 1.1 click backs
 LinkedIn success –
Niche, Professional, Valuable
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10.  Named one of 9 companies doing social media
right by Social Media Examiner.
 “I want, and our members want, recommendations
from like-minded people and that's what the Like
button gives them." He added, "Most people have
friends who have similar interests, so when they
see that their friend likes a particular product it has
a real impact.” - CEO Randall Weidberg
(InternetRetailer.com)
 “Since adding the Like button [one particular type
of “share button”], their average order has
increased by 50%!” (Social Media Examiner)
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11.  "Fewer than half the largest sites on the Web
offer any kind of social link at all on their
front page and these sites represent a
massive slice of Internet traffic on any given
day. We would expect to see a land grab
effort this year as plug-ins vie for placement
on this very valuable Web real estate.“ - Jim
Yu, CEO of BrightEdge
 Google Search
 Social Shopping
 Travel Sites
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12.  Principal and Founder of Awexome Labs - a consultancy specializing in the design
and development of social media engagement and marketing products on the web
and inside the world's largest social networks.
 Has managed and personally developed over 50 successful social media
applications and campaigns, targeting a customer reach of over 10 Million.
 Prior to founding Awexome Labs, Colin was an early-stage employee at San
Francisco startups Context Optional and Involver. From 2008 to 2010, he worked
with Fortune 500 businesses and large brands to develop social media campaigns,
reaching over 8 Million fans and users. Notable customers included Microsoft,
Electronic Arts, McDonald’s, DIRECTV, Facebook, NBC Universal, and Safeway.
 Colin cut his teeth as a member of the CNET Networks Platform Infrastructure
team, engineering tools used by engineers and producers throughout the
company. Colin completed his B.S. in Computer Science at the University of
Delaware in 2005, and has one year of graduate study in the field of Educational
Technology under his belt.
 http://awexomelabs.com/ http://mccolin.com/
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13.  Impact:
◦ “There's an obvious incentive for a user to share content
on Facebook, as their friends will then see what they find
interesting. There is, too, an obvious incentive to a
publisher to include the Like button throughout their
site, as it provides friend-to-friend recommendations
and lots of interesting traffic, which leads to additional
sales, advertising dollars, and more.”
◦ “Proper implementation of share buttons is no longer a
nice to have addition, but is now a pre-requisite for
designing engaging online content, particularly any
content with business objectives.”
◦ “Every piece of content we read online now seems to ask
the question: will you share me?"
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14.  Development:
◦ A share widget's end-user experience may not change
drastically, but the usefulness of the information from a "like" or
"share" will continue to increase. Innovation in this area will be
driven, in part, by the growing competition between the three
major social networks: Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
◦ “… a proliferation of more sharing opportunities, but also the
debut of new and income-generating ways to use the
preferences, likes, recommendations, and other information that
has been collected from users since the launch of their share
widget.”
◦ “On the company side, it will be important for companies to
continue to make effective use of the like and share buttons
across the social networks. They will also need to use the
collected data for targeting and selling, and use the new sales
avenues effectively.”
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15.  Negatives:
◦ “Sites that have poor share strategies often present
the user a barrage of share widgets on all sides of
their content and at every turn. I believe, in
time, we will see users become exhausted by this
form of sharing proliferation, which presents itself
as mostly "out to get the like," as opposed to
offering a sharing feature beside compelling
products and content.”
◦ “The most dangerous, but most business-
compelling element of the share widget
proliferation lies in the data collected about users
by social networks and their partner sites.”
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16.  “It's win-win, with a few caveats.”
– Colin McCloskey, Founder and Principal of
Awexome Labs
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17.  Unknown. (2005, May). The 7 Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking.
Retrieved from Educause Learning Initiative:
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf
 Unknown. (2011, September 13). Sites See Results from Social Sharing Buttons.
Retrieved from EMarketer Digital Intelligence:
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008586
 O'Dell, J. (2011, January 12). Are We Too Obsessed with Facebook (Infographic).
Retrieved from Mashable Social Media:
http://mashable.com/2011/01/12/obsessed-with-facebook-infographic/
 Duerson, M. H. (2012, February 3). Facebook's $5 billion IPO is banked on your
private data -- and you get nothing. Retrieved from NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/facebook-5-billion-ipo-banked-private-
data-article-1.1016946
 Porterfield, A. (2011, April 12). 9 Companies Doing Social Media Right and Why.
Retrieved from Social Media Examiner: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-
companies-doing-social-media-right-and-why/
 Stambor, Z. (2011, May 1). The New Mass Medium. Retrieved from Internet
Retailer: http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/05/01/new-mass-medium?p=2
 BrightEdge. (2011, July 8). BrightEdge Social Share Analysis of Top 10,000 Sites.
Retrieved from BrightEdge: http://www.brightedge.com/2011-07-08-brightedge-
socialshare
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