Twitter has introduced their own official button to add to web pages to facilitate sharing content:
When clicked a window pops up that either prompts the user to sign in to Twitter or, if already signed in, is populated with the pages <title>.
The button may also has a counter with it to show the number of times it has been used:
Search Results, Stats
Clicking on the counter leads you to the real-time search results for that particular URL:
Seemingly missing are true, solid stats that can feed or integrate with analytics.
Customizations
The official Tweet button can be customized in various ways.
An interesting customization is the possibility to add recommendations for people to follow. You, the generator of the button, are included by default but you can add a second account with an account description.
The (follow) recommendation is only shown if the account used to Tweet the link isnt already a follower.
Among other customizations that are easily accessible via the interface:
- customize the default text that will be tweeted:
- use the URL of the page the button is on or another one:
- language
Competition: We Recommend Twitter?
Tweetmeme is the de facto standard at the moment to include a counter-enhanced Tweet button on your web site.
But in what I can only describe as a baffling move, Tweetmeme recommends using the official Tweet button
Puzzling.
What This Means For You
The new, official button is easily dropped into single pages or a whole web site. The code is easy to generate. Especially for the small business owner the easy to use web interface is a plus.
Additional, easily accessible features makes the Tweet button a desirable default option for sites that are new to Twitter integration.
If your web site is already using the Tweetmeme button and has racked up some good numbers for those pages, you might want to keep the Tweetmeme button on those pages and " optionally -- add the Tweet button to newer pages. Why? The tweet counts for both buttons isnt shared, so a page with 100 tweets via Tweetmeme may show 0 on the (newer) Tweet button.
About the Author: Ruud Hein
