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Don’t make my mistake; they aren’t real buttons
02nd June 2011. Posted by Tom Braithwaite. Trackback
I like buttons. They’re fun, functional and come in all shapes and sizes. So imagine my excitement when I heard that three new ones were unveiled this week.
Off I skipped to the haberdashery section of John Lewis to fetch Google’s +1 button (for those of us who are conscious about losing buttons, I assumed), Twitter’s Follow button (a trend setting button?) and LinkedIn’s Apply with LinkedIn button (for suits perhaps, or acceptable job interview attire).
Imagine my surprise, anger and subsequent embarrassment when I got to the counter to enquire about said buttons to find that I had been somewhat misled.
After reading up on the subject, of course I was wrong. The buttons are all plugins that will be used to increase communication and interaction between a company’s website and its users and it is interesting to hear that all three have been announced within such a short time of one another.
Google’s +1 button aims to rival Facebook’s ‘Like’ and works by allowing users to recommend pages to the rest of their contacts across Gmail, Buzz and Reader. It has been something that Google has been experimenting with since March and has now made the code readily available to all. It won’t affect search rankings for pages and is more about pointing friends in the direction of things you like through a recommendation.
I’m not convinced.
I’m equally not convinced by Twitter’s Follow button. The plugin is a new bit of code that publishers can stick on their site to link through to their Twitter profile and, while using Twitter to stay connected with your audience is important, I don’t see its Follow button as the big leap forward that everyone is making it out to be.
More than 50 sites have been using the button, including The Telegraph.
The LinkedIn button seems to be one of the more interesting announcements to come out of this week. The new feature will be displayed alongside job descriptions on partner sites and will launch later this month. It allows users to apply for jobs by sending their LinkedIn profiles as a CV and the benefits are that it will not only speed up the process of applying for a job but will also mean that people will pay more attention to their LinkedIn profile, update it more frequently and as a result, spend more time on the site.
The plugin will also provide benefits to employers. It appears that if a company wants more than a LinkedIn profile from a prospective candidate, it can ask additional questions from a template, add customized questions or request a cover letter. As Mashable reports, employers are a key demographic for the company and I agree that providing them with tools to make finding the right candidate easier is a smart move.
What isn’t a smart move, as it turns out, is rushing down to John Lewis and demanding buttons that don’t exist. Apparently, shouting “I’ve been coming here for years!”, “do you know who I am?” and “give me my Google buttons!” aren’t acceptable ways of communicating with service staff.
Who knew?