Increasingly, websites are displaying icons for social media sites on their pages. Often the icons have no explanatory text, the assumption being that most people will recognise the major social media brands.
There is a problem though, for example if I see a Twitter icon it’s not always clear what will happen when I click on it – will it lead to a page allowing me to follow the author on Twitter or will it help me share the page through my Twitter account?
Good examples of social media icon use precede the icons with an indication of their function – for example these icons are for the purposes of following the brand on various sites or via RSS:
The icons in this bad example serve the same purpose but with no explanatory text:
There are plenty of examples of this kind of implementation, but where did I find this particular one? My footer.
People will not click on an item to explore it’s functionality. Worse, if someone clicks expecting one behaviour and gets another, confusion occurs. Uncertainty and confusion are not the positive experience you want your visitors to experience.
Check your social media icons and ensure, as I have done, you are communicating their purpose.