It is time for another installment of Media Monday! I hope you had a good weekend.  I know that time goes by too quick, but if you love what you do then the workweek goes by fast too!

I was surfing this weekend and I started thinking, what are all these buttons for?  You can “Like” a post, you can “Like” a page, you can “Like” a story and those are all different things!  It can be exhausting!  And none of these buttons are the ones we see on www.facebook.com!

When you go to a website and there is a  , that will generally take you to the Facebook page of the website you are on.   From there you can click on the “like” button and become a fan.

If you see , depending on where you find it on the website, it could mean different things.  Some websites imbed code on the page that allows you to “like” the Facebook page without ever leaving the website (as opposed to the blue “f’ that sends you to Facebook.)  But it could also mean you like a product or post on the page.  So if it is located at the bottom of a blog post, for example, you can like that blog post on Facebook from the blog post by clicking that button. Generally a pop up box will appear that allows you to comment and put something in your feed.  You can click cancel to opt out of that, but the like will still show up on your activity.

Similar to the “Like” box, is .  This button allows you to share the content you are viewing in your news feed on Facebook, sometimes with the option to add a comment and sometimes without.

And finally, the custom buttons. Facebook will now allow developers to use a ton of different styles of buttons. They may be round or 3-D or even a color other than Facebook blue.  Although most will behave like the blue “f”, the only way to be sure is to click on it.

So which of these buttons are right for your website?  Some of it is personal preference.  There is a popular trend with choosing the auto-like button because it keeps the visitor engaged on your website and not distracted by opening a new Facebook window.  Some pages have both options; multiple requests to engage with your Facebook page could result in more fans.

If you sell product on your website, then it might be a good idea to add a like or a share button at each product description because that will increase exposure.  Even if I don’t like your FB page, if I click “like” or “share” on a product, I have just given your contact information to all of my friends, told them I trust you, and what specifically I like that your business sells.  How’s that for a glowing review!

Go visit a few websites and see what kind of “likes” and “shares” they use and decide what will work best for you! I’d love to know what you think.  See ya next week!