How big are your icons?

“Icons? Software related? Have you perhaps filed an article in
the wrong section, mate? Not at all. This article is all about
social issues, not software.

“What I want to talk to you about are icons linking to various
social networks and sharing services, like Digg, Stumbleupon,
Twitter, Facebook, and others. For many users, these networks and
services are an excellent, efficient and a fast way of sharing
information with friends and would be friends. For webmasters,
making your content easily available to users of these networks and
services boosts the chances of quick exposure leading to increased
traffic and possibly revenue. Placing icons linking to popular
micro blogs, social news sites and community networks is a smart
thing to do.

“On one hand, you will have made available tools that can help
promote you. On the other hand, users visiting your website will
believe you’re in the know, since you so gallantly flaunt the slew
of lovely, cute icons that point to world’s bread and butter of
social mingling. On the third hand, lazy users who would not bother
bookmarking your website might do so now and become more frequent
visitors. It’s a win win situation, really.

“No problem. So far, so good. Well, there’s one problem.
Sometimes, you come across sites where the icons are simple huge.
Not just big. Humongous. We’re talking icons that easily take
20-30% of screen real estate. While we have already established
that having relevant icons present is good, making them
Godzilla-size could be a sign of desperation or boy-scout zeal.
There’s such a thing as too much.”

Complete
Story