Components: Social Share Buttons

Guides implementation of share buttons that let users share the current page (article, post, product) to social platforms. Distinct from social profile links (footer links to your brand's X, LinkedIn, etc.) — share buttons share this content.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Scope

• Share buttons: Share current page URL to X, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.
• Not social profile links (e.g. "Follow us on X") — those live in footer/nav

Why It Matters

• Websites with visible social share icons tend to see higher social engagement
• Share buttons amplify reach; Open Graph and Twitter Cards control preview — see open-graph, twitter-cards

Placement (Article Pages)

Fewer, better-placed buttons outperform scattered placement. Research: removing 80% of buttons and repositioning the remaining 20% at high-emotion moments can 3× conversion on share actions.

Placement	Best For	Notes
After first paragraph	Most articles	Catches speed-readers; visible early
Sticky sidebar	Long-form (desktop)	Always visible; consider hiding on mobile
Below title / hero	Short posts	High visibility
End of article	All	Natural completion point; pair with CTA
Mid-article (after key insight)	Long content	Place at friction points (after surprising stat, before CTA)

Avoid: Dozens of icons; every platform when audience uses 2–3. Choose 3–5 platforms that match your audience (e.g. B2B: X, LinkedIn; B2C: X, Facebook, WhatsApp).

Share URLs (Intent Links)

Use platform share/intent URLs so users share with one click:

Platform	Share URL pattern
X (Twitter)	https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url={url}&text={text}
LinkedIn	https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url={url}
Facebook	https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u={url}
WhatsApp	https://wa.me/?text={url}%20{text}
Telegram	https://t.me/share/url?url={url}&text={text}

Encode url and text with encodeURIComponent(). Use page title or a short pre-written message for text — platform-specific prompts with pre-written messages perform ~4× better than generic icons.

Platform Brand Guidelines (Icons)

Use official brand assets. Minimum sizes and color rules:

Platform	Min size	Colors	Notes
Facebook	16px	Blue #1877F2 or monochrome	No rotation, animation without permission
X (Twitter)	32px	Black or white only	Use current X logo, not deprecated bird
LinkedIn	21px height	Blue #0A66C2 or monochrome	Use "in" bug for icons
Instagram	29×29px	Black, white, or official gradient	Glyph for social icons

Source icons from official brand resource centers. Outdated or non-compliant icons reduce perceived shareability.

Design & Technical

Item	Guideline
Format	SVG preferred (scalable, small); PNG/WebP with fallback
Performance	Lightweight; avoid heavy share plugins that slow LCP
Accessibility	aria-label="Share on X"; keyboard accessible
Mobile	Touch targets ≥44×44px; consider native share API (navigator.share) on mobile

Native Share API (Mobile)

On supported browsers, navigator.share lets users share via system dialog (includes more apps). Fallback to intent links when unsupported:

if (navigator.share) {
  navigator.share({ title, url, text }).catch(() => {});
} else {
  window.open(shareUrl, '_blank', 'noopener');
}

Output Format

• Placement recommendation for page type
• Platforms to include (3–5)
• Share URL examples with placeholders
• Icon guidelines (size, source)
• Accessibility checklist

Related Skills

• article-page-generator: Share buttons on article pages; placement after intro, end of article
• blog-page-generator: Share buttons on blog index and post cards
• open-graph: OG tags control share preview (og:image, og:title, etc.) — required for share buttons to show rich cards on Facebook, LinkedIn
• twitter-cards: Twitter Cards control X preview — required for share buttons to show rich cards when shared to X
• footer-generator: Footer has social profile links (Follow us); this skill is for share buttons (share this page)