On a website, is the most effective user experience for the social media icons to open new tabs?

[Sable_Group]

There is debate around what is most effective for user experience. When a user clicks on the social media icons on our site, should a new tab be opened for the social media page or should the website redirect to the social media page?

[LoganRay]

Hi,

Generally speaking, any link that takes users off of your site should open in a new tab. If you send them away in the same tab, they're probably not coming back to your site. Especially with social media, they're likely to get distracted with something else and forget about what they were doing in the first place.

[MattRoney]

I'd recommend opening in a new tab. Part of that is personal preference, but I can't see any case in which it's a good idea to move someone off your site in that situation.