Boston Globe adds 'Gift an Article' option, but it still sends gifts by email

The boston globe has quietly added a "Gift an Article" item to its sharing menu, but the new option currently opens a text box labeled "Gift This Article Through Email, " keeping gift sharing limited to one-to-one email rather than direct social posts.

Boston Globe adds a labeled email gift option

A recent check of the Globe's sharing tools showed a new entry called "Gift an Article" that appeared "within the past day or so, " and selecting it produced a text-entry box with the phrase "Gift This Article Through Email. " That follows an earlier feature discussed "this past November, " which allowed a subscriber to send a gift link to a non-subscriber email as a one-to-one transfer.

Share links still lead to a paywall on social platforms

The new menu item did not change the way public sharing currently works: the Globe's other share buttons for platforms such as Facebook and Bluesky still generate links that land a non-subscriber at a paywall when clicked. The new labeled flow sends the gift by email rather than producing a shareable social-media token.

Readers tried it and found email delivery worked

One reader noted that they had also seen the new option and was unsure of the distinction between the plain "E-mail" share and the new "Gift" share; that reader tried the gift flow with an out-of-state non-subscriber and said it worked. The writer who first flagged the change said the appearance of the new item felt like an initial step and expressed hope it might lead to a broader sharing capability.

The change is currently limited and concrete: a labeled "Gift an Article" item now appears in the sharing menu, it opens a text box reading "Gift This Article Through Email, " and existing social-share links continue to send readers into the paywall. Observers who tested the flow found that the gift email reached a non-subscriber.

The reporter who documented the change said he hopes this is the first step toward a sharing feature that would work beyond email, and readers will be watching for any updates to the Globe's sharing options going forward.

Next on the timeline: the writer who noted the addition plans to monitor the Globe's sharing menu for further changes, and readers testing the feature will likely post whether the site expands gifting beyond the current email-only flow.