1034: "Share Buttons"

[bhoot]

Title text: "The only post to acheive perfect balance between the four was a hilarious joke about Mark Zuckerberg getting caught using a pseudonym to sneak past the TSA."

I actually hate share buttons with a passion.

[mootinator]

Kind of seems like these are "trying too hard to be funny" examples, but still somewhat true.

[gmcleod]

I'm only familiar with the first two, I think the third button is reddit, and I have no idea what the fourth is.

[gmcleod]

Also, what's the Zuckerberg joke?

[glasnt]

I like looking at the breakdowns on the Not Always series of sites:

Zombies? Twitter.
Geographic logic error? Google Plus.
WoW reference? Facebook.


In addition, hi joee.

I'm only familiar with the first two, I think the third button is reddit, and I have no idea what the fourth is.

Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Google Plus.

[Quicksilver]

Title text: "The only post to acheive perfect balance between the four was a hilarious joke about Mark Zuckerberg getting caught using a pseudonym to sneak past the TSA."

I actually hate share buttons with a passion.

I'm also against any form of networking outside of a networking site. I won't share or like anything I don't see on facebook for example.

[Judah]

I'm only familiar with the first two, I think the third button is reddit, and I have no idea what the fourth is.

4th is Google+.

[Sprocket]

I didn't realize Google + users didn't want to be stand up comedians. I need to stop using Google +.

[glasnt]

I stumbled over /dev/sigh/ the other day, and I hadn't noticed the share button before (from AddThis)

It gives the option of 11 different options (favourite, email), and then lets you expand the other 317 options for sharing the item.

O_O

[. .]

Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Google Plus.

Came to this discussion site purely for this. I had no idea either. Thank you! =)

[nick126]

It gives the option of 11 different options (favourite, email), and then lets you expand the other 317 options for sharing the item.

http://xkcd.com/927/
Reminds me of this one.

[Hobin]

There's a typo in the alt-text.

<.<

>.>

...Yes, I registered purely to point that out.

[Eutychus]

I'm also against any form of networking outside of a networking site. I won't share or like anything I don't see on facebook for example.

THIS.

[Djehutynakht]

Ironically enough, he included no share buttons on the comic page for sharing this comic, which would have been entirely appropriate for experimental data collection.

[jpk]

I actually hate share buttons with a passion.

jpk likes this.

[Wooloomooloo]

I'm also against any form of networking outside of a networking site. I won't share or like anything I don't see on facebook for example.

THIS.

Well, that's your choice you're free to make. However, if everybody did that we'd only have family photos, "Gee Willikers! Cuuuute...!!!" comments said to family photos and status updates nobody gives a damn about to look at on said sites. I personally don't really do private posts and only share stuff I DON'T find on facebook / G+, and I know a few people who actively un-friend people who only share stuff they find there (="re-share").

PS, the forum apparently filters "ohemgee". Wow. Just... wow.

[willpellmn]

It'd be helpful if someone could translate a little for the benefit of those who aren't quite as plugged in to "Internet culture". I've heard of all four sites, but I don't use them except for following two Twitterers and an occasional G+ article by one of them, and I couldn't even begin to guess at the culture that prevails on them, so I have no idea what the joke here (besides the obvious Boycott Facebook one). Why is #2 Reddit while #4 is G+ (and only barely that)? I can't guess because I don't know the sites from personal experience.

[tetromino]

It'd be helpful if someone could translate a little for the benefit of those who aren't quite as plugged in to "Internet culture". I've heard of all four sites, but I don't use them except for following two Twitterers and an occasional G+ article by one of them, and I couldn't even begin to guess at the culture that prevails on them, so I have no idea what the joke here (besides the obvious Boycott Facebook one). Why is #2 Reddit while #4 is G+ (and only barely that)? I can't guess because I don't know the sites from personal experience.

A verbose explanation of the joke for those unfamiliar with the subject or lacking in humor:

Stand-up comedy is an entertainment genre where a comedian performs standing on stage before a live audience.
The Christian right refers to the right-wing, religious fraction of the US political spectrum.
Wikipedia is a user-created online encyclopedia. Due to policies that oppose censorship and require controversial statements to be supported by mainstream, academically respected sources, it is disliked by some people on the right side of the US political spectrum.
RealDolls are expensive full-sized sex dolls. RealDoll buyers are seen as men who have failed to establish a socially acceptable relationship with a live human woman, and are therefore considered to be acceptable targets for jokes.
Custom ROM refers to firmware for an electronic device that has been modified, typically by hobbyists without the device manufacturer's help or permission. Since installing third-party firmware is a often a poorly automated and potentially risky process, people interested in custom ROMs tend to be stereotyped as nerds.

Twitter is a microblogging site that appears to be particular popular in the media and entertainment industries.
Reddit is a social news site with a userbase that is largely left-of-center politically and includes a large and unexpectedly vocal group of militant atheists.
Facebook is, by a large margin, the world's most popular social network. A non-negligible fraction of its users are dissatisfied with the site and its frequent privacy lapses, but cannot bring themselves to leave because all their friends are using it.
Google+ is Google's failing attempt to compete with Facebook; for the moment, the active part of its userbase is largely limited to nerds and hardcore Facebook haters.

All four social sites provide sharing buttons that third-party websites can stick into their pages. Clicking such a button allows users to share a link to the article via the social network in question; when an article is shared, a counter displayed on the button is incremented. Since web designers typically arrange such buttons in a single row or group, a visitor can see at a glance how popular a particular article is with users of different social sites.

The comic portrays the sharing button rows that might be displayed for several different articles on third-party sites, highlighting the stereotypical foibles of the userbases of the four social sites.

[SpringLoaded12]

Older and simpler, but the same idea:
"<Zimbu> heh, the ad bar on fark speaks for itself...
<Zimbu> '1000s of naked women on your desktop! NSFW!: 18 comments'
<Zimbu> 'Revenge Lady- My story of complete and utter humiliation: 8 comments'
<Zimbu> 'i saw a turtle: 1136 comments'"

[GulliNL]

I actually hate share buttons with a passion.

I share your passion, and that took me on a quest to find something to counter those pesky buttons, which led me to the Chrome Extention Shellfish. It supposedly blocks all share buttons which is always great!

By the way, the chrome web store added a Google+ button to this guys page about share button blockers

[da Doctah]

Reminds me of that cracked.com video where all the party guests have nametags identifying them as various websites.

[BAReFOOt]

What “share buttons”?
With AdBlock Plus and Ghostery <voice like="Picard" while="tortured">THERE ARE NO SHARE BUTTONS!</voice>

[FarmerJoe]

There's a typo in the alt-text.

<.<

>.>

...Yes, I registered purely to point that out.

Me too. It's actually a great way to get people to sign up for the forums!

[Red Hal]

There's a typo in the alt-text.

<.<

>.>

...Yes, I registered purely to point that out.

Actually there are two, but the sense is not lost so why worry? Welcome to the fora.

[AvatarIII]

So many TSA acronyms to choose from, so little time!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSA

[J L]

"Thinking Skills Assessment" would be a beaut, but Wiki claims it's a British thing?

[AvatarIII]

it's clearly the eagle eyes of the Texas Soaring Association

[Yoduh]

for being xkcd users, sure are a lot of internet noobs here .

[kallios]

Hah, this comic tripped my AdBlock and wouldn't load until I disabled the share button filter.

[SirMustapha]

I don't know what bothers me the most: the fact that the comic looks pretty much like a non-joke to me, or that hating share buttons is The New Thing.

[Red Hal]

I don't know what bothers me the most: the fact that the comic looks pretty much like a non-joke to me, or that hating share buttons is The New Thing.

[AvatarIII]

I don't know what bothers me the most: the fact that the comic looks pretty much like a non-joke to me, or that hating share buttons is The New Thing.

both the Boycott Facebook panel and the title text were definitely jokes, the rest, I'm not so sure.

I'd kind of like to see a sequel to this comic comparing youtube video titles with number of views and thumb rating/top comments, i think there's more potential for humour in that.

[madjo]

I actually hate share buttons with a passion.

+1

[AvatarIII]

I actually hate share buttons with a passion.

+1

I don't understand how anyone can hate something that is optional and ignorable, I understand hating pop-up ads for example, although in this day and age it's your own fault if you still get pop-up ads, but share buttons, if you don't like them , don't use them, I'm not sure how dislike can escalate to hate in that kind of circumstance.

[SpringLoaded12]

I don't know what bothers me the most: the fact that the comic looks pretty much like a non-joke to me, or that hating share buttons is The New Thing.

"The New Thing"? According to who?

[dp2]

This would have been funnier as screen captures. Making a point with fake data doesn't really work.

[SerMufasa]

I don't understand how anyone can hate something that is optional and ignorable, I understand hating pop-up ads for example, although in this day and age it's your own fault if you still get pop-up ads, but share buttons, if you don't like them , don't use them, I'm not sure how dislike can escalate to hate in that kind of circumstance.

While I do not hate them (and, in fact, sometimes use - although more often than not I'll just copy/paste the link), I think the problem people have with them is that it effectively extends the social network throughout all of Internetendom and for some, that's a privacy and/or personal annoyance.

PS: The Google+ joke is that very few people use it compared to the other options

[radtea]

I don't understand how anyone can hate something that is optional and ignorable, I understand hating pop-up ads for example, although in this day and age it's your own fault if you still get pop-up ads, but share buttons, if you don't like them , don't use them, I'm not sure how dislike can escalate to hate in that kind of circumstance.

Humans can hate pretty much anything, for no readily discernible reason: people with different sexual proclivities, people with somewhat more (or less) money than average, people with a different shade of skin than ours, people with different magical beliefs or none at all, the French... OK, maybe there's a reason to hate the French. But hating things for no reason is one of those things that distinguishes us from other animals, so I guess we should cherish it as uniquely human, or something.

But even given that, share buttons aren't very likeable: they are part of the system by which websites like FB et al track people. Every time you land on a page with a share button its likely there's some cookie magic going on in your browser, keeping track of the frequency with which you visit http://www.girlsngoats.com (now I'm afraid to check if that url actually exists, although I guess rule 34 implies it does...) There are a couple of Firefox pluggins that help: Ghostery, Disconnect, and Disconnect Facebook are all useful if you don't want private third parties keeping track of your every move on the Web.

[AvatarIII]

I don't understand how anyone can hate something that is optional and ignorable, I understand hating pop-up ads for example, although in this day and age it's your own fault if you still get pop-up ads, but share buttons, if you don't like them , don't use them, I'm not sure how dislike can escalate to hate in that kind of circumstance.

While I do not hate them (and, in fact, sometimes use - although more often than not I'll just copy/paste the link), I think the problem people have with them is that it effectively extends the social network throughout all of Internetendom and for some, that's a privacy and/or personal annoyance.

That's kind of the point of the social networking phenomenomenon though, to make the vast and impersonal internet, social, and for those who are computer illiterate, easy, and accessible.
I can understand being slightly annoyed by the rising levels of share buttons, but hate them? perhaps I'm just not a hateful enough person!

PS: The Google+ joke is that very few people use it compared to the other options

and that those people are rich perverts?

[SirMustapha]

I don't understand how anyone can hate something that is optional and ignorable, I understand hating pop-up ads for example, although in this day and age it's your own fault if you still get pop-up ads, but share buttons, if you don't like them , don't use them, I'm not sure how dislike can escalate to hate in that kind of circumstance.

Honestly, it looks to me like pure elitism. Share buttons are, in a way, a constant reminder that "regular people" also use the Internet.