When you share a link using Facebook.com, it scans the page and lets you set a thumbnail image for the post. If you are on a webpage that you want to share, you can save a step if you have the Facebook Share Bookmarklet installed on your browser.
Basically, a bookmarklet is just a bookmark that executes JavaScript code instead of going to an URL. On a desktop PC browser, you can install it by just dragging the bookmarklet to your toolbar. However, it’s a little trickier to install on a mobile browser.
Fortunately this page has easy instructions on how to install the Facebook bookmarklet (and other services) on a mobile browser. Basically, you click the link for the bookmarklet you want, save as a bookmark, and then edit the URL to remove some unneeded code. It’s pretty simple.
Sharing from RSS Reader
I consume most of my Internet news from RSS feeds via Google Reader using the Reeder iPad app. Reeder’s Facebook share feature doesn’t add a thumbnail, so I use the ReadItLater service to save posts that I want to share later on Facebook. ReadItLater has a Facebook share feature, but sadly it also doesn’t add a thumbnail. As such, I would use the browser bookmarklet method. Cumbersome, but it worked.
Anyways, I just discovered the iPad app Mr. Reader and its Facebook sharing feature supports the thumbnail! Hooray! Since both are based on Google Reader, it was a painless switch from Reeder to Mr. Reader.
YouTube Video Thumbnails
For whatever reason, the thumbnail often doesn’t appear for sites that embed a YouTube video if you use the bookmarklet method. What you need to do is click on the video to open it up in YouTube. Usually, the iOS YouTube app will open since iOS doesn’t support Flash. If you tap the Share button, the app will compose an email. Change the www. to m. and just copy up to the video ID. Here’s an example: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8d-MTIJ7ZZQ The video will open in the mobile YouTube website and the Facebook Share button there will allow you to specify a thumbnail. It’s a little cumbersome, but not bad. Another way is to just copy the video URL as it appears, open Facebook.com in Safari, and share the link normally.
I hope this makes it easier to share things on Facebook. Have fun!