Dive Brief:

• The Los Angeles Times launched a new site design on Monday evening. 
• Among the most interesting additions are the three "sharelines" at the beginning of each article, offering pre-written tweets or social media posts. 
• The lines can be shared to Twitter or Facebook with an automatic link back to the article, making it even easier for readers to share. 

Dive Insight: 

Publishers have been using social media share buttons for a long time now, but this innovation could prove an even better marketing tool. For one, publishers know through experience what types of words draw in readers. By providing pre-written posts, the publishers are taking tighter control of social media sharing and hopefully driving more traffic. The top-of-article positioning also takes advantage of the idea that a large group of social media users share something without even reading it. The easier a publication makes it to share articles, the more shares it will get. The Los Angeles Times could be setting a precedent that other publishers will soon follow.