• Mashable, Wednesday, August 11, 2010 12:58 PM

Sorry, all you industrious widget makers. Twitter is launching an official Tweet Button for sharing articles on Web sites and counting how many times a URL has been shared, Mashable has learned. The Tweet Button could launch as soon as this Thursday, according to documents obtained by the tech blog. "From what we can tell, the Tweet Button is designed to be the most comprehensive counter of retweets and shares across Twitter's network," Mashable writes.

"It is a single line of code that can be added to any Web site. There are three versions of the button (110×20, 55×20, 55×63) with five different settings for customization." If true, the development could present a huge challenge to Tweetmeme, which powers the vast majority of "retweet" buttons on Web sites and blogs. It's unlikely, however, that Twitter would be so cruel as to spring the news on Tweetmeme, says Mashable. Rather, "We believe it's likely the two companies have a deal, but don't know what it would look like as of yet."

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