We Got Buttons

Here's me sticking my neck out. Don't you find buttons are more clutter than they're good? I mean, why bother with all the buttons when most decent aggregators (I use Bloglines) and some browsers (if you haven't migrated to FireFox by now you're beyond help) auto-detect feeds?

I think less is more. I am on a quest to purge my site of geeky ugliness. If blogs are going to be regarded as mainstream media, maybe bloggers should put effort into making them look more inviting.

But that's just me...

Buttons, blogrolls, acronyms. Sheesh.

Mike, you're kidding, we're in and now we're out? Must contemplate this.

"Less is more" is a bit of a pretty tired phrase by now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm BIG fan of Seth Godin, but y'know, one size doesn't fit all.

This blog, as a branch/extension of a magazine, is visited by people that isn't the regular blog audience. They need MORE, so the effort to connect with this 'kinda new thing' is less.

My 0.02

In my book, you are still most definitely IN. Your post just got me thinking (again) about the usability of buttons and other wonderful tech toys in blogs.

Especially when (or if) you consider blogs a mainstream medium.

Since you're all about reporting, I'm curious how many people per day actually click on those buttons, considering that if you already have an account, you usually have your own button plugin (like the Bloglines button)with the browser. If so, wouldn't those buttons just be wasting valuable space?

Hello Neil,

So, since these are brand new, my answer is no idea just yet. But it's a great question to look into after a little time. Thanks for raising the issue.

buttons galore. i've been thinking of trying this:

http://chrischerry.name/rssopt/

might help get rid of some clutter.