It’s Social Wednesday! Every Wednesday I write about web apps and browser add-ons or observations related to social networks.
SUBSCRIBE RSS feed or
email updates to follow these stories!
Social sharing has become a phenomenon in the online habitat. Whenever we found something cool, we share with friends. That’s why most web sites nowadays have sharing buttons (for Cloud High Club, you can find these buttons on the left of this article), but sometimes the webmasters of some web sites just overlooked this need, or they used web sites plug-ins that support limited social sites only. You may want to digg a blog post but the blog does not have a digg.com button.
This post is a round-up of some browser add-ons that allow users to create social bookmarks no matter the sites have sharing buttons or not.
Shareaholic – Social Sharing Made Easy
Shareaholic is an all-in-one browser add-on that provides access to the following types of social sites:
- Social networks, e.g. Facebook, twitter
- Social bookmarking sites, e.g. Delicious, StumbleUpon
- URL shorteners, e.g. TinyURL, Bit.ly
- Clip for later reading services, e.g. Read It Later
- Blogging platforms, e.g. WordPress, Blogger
- etc.
It has an extensive list of supported sites. Besides browser add-ons, it also has plug-ins for blogging platforms. Webmasters can add sharing buttons to their web sites by installing this plug-in.
Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kbmipnjdeifmobkhgogdnomkihhgojep
Firefox add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/shareaholic-share-links-fast
Official site: http://www.shareaholic.com
Google Share Button – Google’s Social Sharing Buttons for Chrome
This is a product developed by Google specifically for Chrome browser. It adds an icon on the extension bar, which brings up a list of popular social sites for sharing when you click on it. Instead of giving you everything, you can choose to display only those social sites you use.
Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/idaeealfhcijmeigljaopafdapgijdcb
ShareThis – Yet Another Handy Social Sharing Add-on
ShareThis is another social sharing browser add-on that I highly recommend. It supports both Chrome and Firefox. It also has a plug-in that could add social sharing buttons to web sites.
A particularly useful function of ShareThis is Twitter integration. It allows fast sharing to Twitter if you store your Twitter credentials in it.
Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lplpcpijdokpnbjcklakgabohjgneidi (unofficial extension using the ShareThis bookmarklet)
Firefox add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sharethis/
Official site: http://www.sharethis.com
AddToAny – Chrome-only Social Sharing Buttons
AddToAny is another good choice but unfortunately it is Chrome-only. It allows you to personal the list of services to be displayed. It works in pretty much the same way as Google Share Button. On its official site you can create social sharing buttons for your own web sites.
Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ffpgijchhhkhnokafdeklpllijgnbche
Official Site: http://addtoany.com
AddThis – Social Sharing for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer
AddThis is a truly cross-platform browser add-on. It supports not only Chrome and Firefox but also Safari and Internet Explorer. It supports 300+ services (I found many services that I have never heard of in service directory).
AddThis is also kind enough to share its statistics. I was surprised to know that while Facebook is the most frequently used service, email is among the top 5 most frequently used AddThis function! And print as well! What? You guys still print out webpages for filing?
Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cgbogdmdefihhljhfeiklfiedefalcde
Firefox add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/addthis/
Official site: http://www.addthis.com
.png "New? Start Here!"){kind=icon}
