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Tracking. The links themselves will likely have unique referrer IDs so the platform knows where a click comes from.
Also, they track website visitors without them even clicking the button. Just loading the "share" icon from the social media website allows them to see that you are reading that specific article, and if they recognise your IP or can fingerprint your browser then they can tie it to your social media account (advertising profile).
Just loading the "share" icon from the social media website allows them to see that you are reading that specific article
The buttons aren't necessary for this though. They can do that with a tag, or a hidden 1x1 pixel
Yes, but Facebook can't just place that script on other people's pages.
That's the point of the buttons. Website designers place that shit themselves.
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That's not really a thing anymore since the GDPR went into force. These days, websites integrate these buttons directly into the webpage rather than loading them dynamically. The buttons in the screenshot are custom designs, too, so they didn't get loaded from the social media companies.
I use a combination of things like Librewolf, uBlock Origin, and Pihole w/ maintained adlists. I wonder if any or all of that blocks this type of tracking. I know Librewolf has pretty good fingerprinting protections.
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On mobile, I recommend downloading a URL cleaner to scrape away that shit.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people share an article and the link is the size of the Magna Carta
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It's also to remind people to post them in social media, clicking them or not.
Tracking is the game
Aren't these buttons still around just to track you even if you don't interact with them? Since most people don't logout from their social media on their personal device.
Users don't need to interact with them, when a site adds the button to their page it allows that code to track you around the net. It's still generating revenue even if you never click on it.
Sites still add them because it makes them money at the expense of your privacy.
Yeah, but you can do the same tracking without actually displaying any buttons, so the point stands.
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Sites still add them because it makes them money at the expense of your privacy.
You can also consider it a form of advertising for the platforms. The buttons not only suggest for the user that they should use an indicated platform, but give them an immediate way to engage with it as well. It's manipulation, all the way down.
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I still want to know why they show up on porn sites...
Cause I'm sitting here watching backdoor sluts 9 and thinking to myself; "you know who'd really enjoy this? Grandma."
Backdoor Sluts 9? that movie makes Crotch Capers 3 look like Naughty Nurses 2
Grandma was very clear at the last family gathering, that she sees all parts after 3 as very derivative and boring cashgrabs
I also recently had a porn site ask me, if I'd like to login with a Google account. Absolutely fuck that Google login dialog on any webpage that has it, but why in the world would anyone log into a porn site with it?
🤷 Sometimes you need a recipe for muffins, other times you need 'instructional videos' on muff diving. Google is here to help, lmao
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Gotta let her know people are stealing her content
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You'd be surprised how the average person interacts with the Internet .
Share button > copy link > paste unedited url to SMS
Missed a step where they Google Facebook.com - click on the top sponsored link to go to Facebook - post the URL
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In uBlock Origin activate the filterlist EasyList – Social Widgets to remove those.
I love how pornhub has a share button.
I always wonder how many people accidentally shared it to facebook or something. I know the vast majority of people keep all of their social media auto-logged and and linked to each other and shit. And they're using Chrome.
As far as I can tell they are easy to add and everyone else is doing it, so the people who make decisions about the website don't want to feel left out. Kind of like how those sites became popular in the first place, easy and perceived popularity.
It's just an option on many WordPress templates - asks for your social URLs but I don't know if any tracking happens natively as a result.
I don't. Fuck each and everyone of those spy balls.
Share buttons are fucking useless IMO. You have to jump through a dozen screens to actually share them, or just copy the link and paste it where you want shared.
They aren't useless at all, just not in the sense you expect. Those icons are hosted on the respective website and therefore serve as a giant tracking pixel. Better block them altogether.
YouTube is useful with the timestamp option
Well I sure as hell don't use that one.
I use the share by email button all the time because it is 2 clicks easier than copying and pasting the url.
I don't think I've ever noticed those lol.
Who needs adblock when you're just oblivious
Who needs adblock when you’re just oblivious
People who are oblivious as they browse are some of those who need it most. As they easily fall for "promoted content" that is literally just ads.
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Look at all those methods I would never use to share anything from a website.
Might just be me, but if I wanted to share something with someone it's going to be an IM
Alright, I'll admit it, I don't get it. What are the icons supposed to say?
Those are still a thing? I adblocked them a long time ago.
Theres a whole world of things like this I didn't know happened. My company recently done research on a website Chat Bot. I rubbished it off saying no one ever uses them, it turns out thousands click on them (including a lot of my managers)
My HR internal job posting site, which is run on Taleo, has these buttons so you can post the jobs on Google Buzz and Livejournal and Myspace.
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this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2025
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