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I've been using the Facebook 'Share' buttons across a few websites for a while now. On my personal blog (linked in profile) I've added Facebooks new 'like' buttons as well as a few of the other new tools.

There seems to be a definite overlap between 'Share' and 'Like' when it comes to deciding which button to place on your website. From my tests the 'sharing' of a link certainly leaves a bigger footprint on the users wall. I'm wondering what advantages that using the like button will give and how interchangeably these will be used.

Is it really relevant (especially to blogs) to have users 'like' your entire page when they can share individual articles?

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Is this startup related? It hardly seems relevant. – TimJ♦ Feb 8 '11 at 14:33

closed as off topic by TimJ♦, Michael Pryor Feb 9 '11 at 0:33

Questions on Answers OnStartups are expected to relate to startups within the scope defined in the FAQ. Consider editing the question or leaving comments for improvement if you believe the question can be reworded to fit within the scope. Read more about closed questions here.

3 Answers

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I think the new 'like' button has two substantial advantages:

  • It's more social. You see your and your friends names, along with a total count - Far more engaging and 'fun'.
  • It's one click, and that's it. Often, your users just want to say 'thanks', and by the way let their friends know they liked something somewhere. Classic sharing demands more effort.

I would advise having the standard version of the new Like button right beneath an article/post, and further down the road, or to the right, a short line of selected share buttons.

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From a psychological aspect or a sale aspect by saying like it is more like to do a buy decision versus share which just means hey you can all look at this.

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Here is a good post that answers that question: http://mashable.com/2010/11/08/facebook-like-share/

Summary is:

Rather than choose one or the other, sites that combine “Like” and “Share” into the user experience see the greatest level of success in terms of driving referral traffic, building relationships and learning more about their customers and visitors. Why? Not only do “Like” and “Share” have different strengths and different applications, they actually drive the most value when used in concert.

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