By nixing the share number, Twitter is making a marketing mistake

Twitter is no longer counting shares on the button on various blogs and pages around the Internet.

“The count was built in a time where the only button on the web was from Twitter. Today, it’s most commonly placed among a number of other share buttons, few of which have counts.” Explains Twitter in a post titled “Hard decisions for a sustainable platform.”

If you read the above story, it seems like Twitter had no choice. If you read this article on Search Engine watch, it seems you can get the number back if you pay for it from Gnip, a Twitter company.

I honestly don’t care why Twiotter did it: but I do care about what it says. We use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn share buttons at Colgate. The result from Twitter’s decision are two-fold:

1. Our content doesn’t look like it is getting any love on Twitter. To the general consumer, it appears the content isn’t as good. (Why no shares on Twitter?)
2. Twitter doesn’t look as active to the outside world. Yes, some people will read annoucements on Twitter’s blog, and yes, some might even read news stories about Twitter selling something it used to give away. Either way, the result is a lack of social metrics that make Twitter look like it is being used less.

I think this is horrible news for Twitter as it continues efforts to get people using the platform. If Twitter gives the sense that no one is sharing content on Twitter, there could be a nagging doubt that no one is on Twitter.

To me, that is exactly the wrong impression Twitter wants to create.