ShareThis Enhances Sharing Experience with Beta Launch of New Widget

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ShareThis, the sharing network that makes it simple to share any online content (www.ShareThis.com), today launched a beta version of their updated widget designed to broaden the service’s social media and networking capabilities.

“The development of the new ShareThis widget and the added features will expand the sharing process, letting users easily follow any of their contacts”

The new widget is currently live in beta form on publisher sites including AccessHollywood.com, Boston.com, Dogtime.com, SparkPeople.com, and FoxNews.com– and will be rolled out to all 80,000 ShareThis publisher sites over the coming weeks.

New features in the beta version of the widget include:

• ShareBox v.2.0
  Users can now save content directly to their ShareBox through a link in the widget. This will allow easy access to previously shared content and provides organizational tools.

• Contact Manager
  Users can now import access contact names and email addresses directly to the widget from the largest webmail providers through ShareThis’ new contact manager, allowing for easier sharing to all contacts without ever leaving the website they are visiting.

• Smarter Widget
  The widget will automatically display the last three email addresses used, providing an even faster and easier way to share content with the relevant contacts.

• Improved Design
  ShareThis completely redesigned the widget to be tab-free, creating a more intuitive experience for the user. The once separate Social Web and Post tabs are now merged together.

“The development of the new ShareThis widget and the added features will expand the sharing process, letting users easily follow any of their contacts,” said Tim Schigel, CEO, ShareThis. “More than ever before, people are relying on their personal networks to exchange information that is of interest to them and this new widget will help shape the next generation of sharing.”

"ShareThis not only helps us drive traffic and stimulate viral activity, but it also gives us a window into who is reading our online content, which in turn helps us to provide even more relevant and engaging content to our target audiences," said David Heilmann, COO at SparkPeople.com. "We're excited about the new widget and continuing to expand SparkPeople.com's reach via ShareThis."

The launch of the new widget follows the unveiling of ShareThis’s revamped website at http://www.sharethis.com. The new site includes increased functionality and ease of navigation across the primary audiences of users, publishers, and developers. Slideshows and brief “how to” video tutorials tailored to each audience are available to assist users to optimize their ShareThis experience.

About ShareThis

ShareThis is the sharing network that makes it simple and easy to share any online content. With the click of a button on a webpage or browser plug-in, ShareThis allows users to seamlessly access their contacts and networks from anywhere online and share the content through email, IM, Facebook, Digg, mobile SMS, etc. without ever leaving the current page. Publishers can deploy the ShareThis button to tap service’s universal sharing capabilities to drive traffic, stimulate viral activity and track the sharing of online content. ShareThis also simplifies social media services by reducing clutter on web pages and providing instant distribution of content across social networks, affiliate groups, and communities.