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Click to tweet plugins have become increasingly popular in WordPress blogs. Yet not every tweeting functionality makes for a good feature. Here are two examples that (to me) illustrate all the difference between a welcome shortcut and an annoying nag.
This is a nag:
- Authors picks quote she/he thinks should get tweeted.
- Picked quote stands out in copy, tweet option always visible.
The author basically tells their readers: “I know better than you what should be valuable to you, so let me offer you a shortcut not to think for yourself.”
While that may lead to more engagement with a few, it will offend others who are used to think and decide for themselves.
This is a feature:
- User performs an action: highlights text.
- Tweet option is offered, disappears when not used.
When a reader highlights text, it’s fair to assume she/he (amongst other possibilities) may intend to copy-paste it for a tweet. Consequently, the appearing tweet shortcut makes perfect sense as an offer to improve the assumed action.
When not used, the option disappears again discretely. No decision gets “forced” upon the user, but they’re offered an opt-in enhancement of their experience.
I find those highlighting thingies are annoying. I often highlight text as I’m reading it, and having some dumb arse Twitter link shoved in my face is highly distracting.
So I guess it comes down to decent typography and contrast in the first place, to reduce the need of highlighting text while reading? 😉
I use Buffer to highlight and send to my Twitter queue, which is a similar idea. I realize not everyone uses it though.
I agree 100% with the nag part! The gif NAILS it.
Thanks, Melissa! Meanwhile I use a privacy-friendly Chrome app. Context menu → tweet selection, super easy.