Neworld, Great relationships build great brands

Last week the Facebook Like button reached it’s first birthday. In the last year the ‘like’ button has been added to over 2.5 million websites and that figure is growing at 10,000 websites per day. In short, it’s come a long way. So this week Facebook have introduced a new button – Send.

The Send Button

The Like button has been an undeniable success for Facebook, it’s even spurned Google into action with it’s +1 button. Today the social network announced a new Send button, for when you only want to share the content with certain people or Facebook Groups, through Facebook messages or email. It’s for those times when clicking Like and posting it to your wall for everyone to see just isn’t appropriate.

The button has been introduced on 50 websites and when you click on it, here’s what you see – a little pop up with the information to be sent and room for a message for the recipients.

Will You Use It?

Facebook point out the button will be useful for sending information directly to specific people. So say you want to organise a present for a family member, or a holiday with some friends then this is the button to use. On the other hand this will just add to the myriad of buttons already out there clogging up websites.

For brands is there an incentive to install this? Send button messages are destined to be seen by fewer people as they won’t be posted to the wall. On the flipside those that do receive such a message are more likely to read it as it is directed at them.

Part of me also wonders is this Facebook trying to appeal to people who are naturally more private about their lives. Is the Share button a sign of Facebook maturing? Understanding that to grow in saturated markets greater privacy and control for users, may attract those who have ignored joining the social network so far? Either way it’s not destined to outshine the Like button for a long time to come.

To install the Send button plug in on your website click here.