Surfing the Internet, as always, I came across this interesting post on Mashable.
http://mashable.com/2010/06/13/facebook-like-increases-blog-referral-traffic/
According to the post, Facebook Like, a button by which users of the social network can share information with their friends without leaving a particular website, has been instrumental in increasing traffic to blogs that have traditionally relied on dedicated readership, search engines, and links on other blogs and websites.
It seems like the perfect plug that fills in the gap between UGC on blogs and social networks. Where previously, people have to copy a link, sign into their facebook accounts and post something to their status update, the same can now be accomplished with a simple click of a button that doesn't interrupt your browsing experience. Whats the harm in one simple click right? Wouldn't I be more likely to do something if it was this simple?
Is Like the perfect sharing mechanism?
I mean, there are certain privacy implications right? How can you share something with your friends unless the website that you are surfing already knows who you are and has access to your profile? Will they ask for you information before you like something? Are they using your browsers saved, hidden cache to figure out who you really are?
To experiment, I visited a mashable post, saw the like button and clicked on it. The icon changed from "like" to "i like this". I didnt log onto my facebook, I didnt give the website access to my information, I didnt do anything!
Food for thought!
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