There are any number of reasons why you might want to remove Facebook like and Google +1 buttons from websites you view, but if you don’t use these services, or don’t like to publish link repeats in your social media stream; then, at best, they serve as visual clutter while you browse.

Obviously, these tools are valuable to website owners, and there is no reason for them to stop adding sharing links to the pages they create — even Def-Proc has a link to twitter.com/DefProc in the top corner of the page. But the web is not like a newspaper, an HTML page is a suggestion to your browser about how a page should be shown, and if you don’t want to render certain parts, you don’t have to.

So, turn off javascript, disable Flash and stop downloading images. It’s your browser. Or for finer control over what gets included, install the Adblock Plus plugin for Chrome (incl. Chromium) and Firefox.

The are a number of maintained filter lists that you can subscribe to, which will keep your browsing free of distracting adverts; but removing the social media buttons just takes a few filters.

From the Adblock Plus options page, you can “Add your own filters”. Just copy each option below and click “+ Add Filter” to use them.

Filter Facebook likes: www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?

Filter Google +1s: plusone.google.com

Filter Tweet this from Twitter: platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.html

And to remove the Reddit button: www.reddit.com/static/button

Just to mention though, if you’re a site developer, you might want to whitelist your own domains, otherwise you might not be seeing the full page!

I started using Adblock Plus when the car insurance quote I’d researched started following me around the internet. That’s just creepy…

If you’re using a list like the Adversity, Antosocial list, then you won’t see the twitter logo and link on this site.