Key Points
- Facebook is discontinuing its external “Like” and “Share” buttons for third-party websites. The change will take effect on February 10, 2026.
- Website owners don’t need to do anything; the buttons will automatically become invisible.
- The buttons were introduced in 2010 and were once a key tool for driving web traffic.
- Meta says the plugins are from an “earlier era” and their usage has declined as the internet has evolved.
Next year will mark the end of an era for two of Facebook’s most recognizable social plugins. The platform’s iconic “Like” and “Share” buttons for third-party websites will be discontinued on February 10, 2026.
In a blog post, Meta explained that website administrators won’t need to take any special action as a result of this change. However, they can choose to manually remove the plugins from their sites before the official end date. Any plugins that remain “gracefully degrade,” which is a fancy way of saying they will turn into an invisible pixel and simply disappear from the page.
The decision to end support for these features is a significant moment for both Meta and Facebook. The external Like and Share buttons were first introduced back in 2010. At the time, they were promoted as a powerful way for websites to drive more traffic from the social network, which was a dominant force in how people discovered and shared online content.
Meta’s official reason for the change is that the plugins “reflect an earlier era of web development, and their usage has naturally declined as the digital landscape has evolved.” This is true, but it also reflects the changing role of Facebook within Meta’s broader business.
Facebook is no longer the central focus it once was, and it’s much less common now to see websites that integrate with only a single social network. The web has moved on, and so has Meta.
