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36 Comments
- inactive, on 08/14/2009, -5/+42URL shortening is ***** stupid. No *****. Blind links are fail. Maybe if there was a common API for all browsers to expand these URLs for display in tooltip/statusbar? Actually, no. Just give me the damned URL, stop obfuscating it.
- FredFredrickson, on 08/14/2009, -0/+14Personally, I hardly ever click through shortened links, especially when I'm at work. I like knowing where the hell I'm being linked to. Blindly following links is a great way to mess up your computer.
- gumballer, on 08/14/2009, -0/+13Give this man an award
- arunforce, on 08/14/2009, -7/+18Short URLs are stupid, so is Twitter. Why can't they just both die?
- jcundall, on 08/14/2009, -0/+10Why does the description for this story say "Twitter (Twitter)"?
- wlmafia, on 08/14/2009, -1/+11I cant wait till url shortening goes the way of the dodo
- netneutrality, on 08/14/2009, -0/+8copy and paste from the article picked up the alt text of the logo
- XeroXenith, on 08/14/2009, -2/+10You can't be so naive as to think that's the only use for URL shorteners - they're everywhere nowadays. If one went down, thousands upon thousands of links on the Internet would crumble in an instant. This at least provides some form of insurance.
- dollar0dot02, on 08/14/2009, -1/+9Yeah. They are also used for rickrolling and goatsing random victims.
- StarlessKnight, on 08/15/2009, -1/+5[a href="rediculously long link here"]Link[/a]
Or we can use HTML 101 code and... not care about how long your link is. Assuming, of course, sites bother to support basic HTML 101 code and don't require short links to make it look pretty. On the other hand, on a site like Digg or Reddit why do you need it to look pretty or clean in the first place? It's a social site you're posting comments on, not a professional blog or editorial column.
Now I won't deny someone might have a legitimate use for said links, but these days the only place I see them (emphasis on SEE them, as in truly matter) is Digg and Reddit, places where you don't NEED (emphasis on NEED, not want) them. - yeeaauuh, on 08/14/2009, -4/+8I'm so happy to hear this. I know myself along with most of my friends on Twitter are always going back several months in our updates to click on old shortened links.
/s - Jaliyl, on 08/14/2009, -2/+6Shortened URLs make my tinfoil hat itchy, but then again I don't use sites like twitter either.
- IllBeBack, on 08/14/2009, -0/+4And that is why I will never click on a short URL unless it's from a trusted source.
- t0x2c, on 08/15/2009, -1/+4Greasemonkey scripts can expand shortened URLs if you're that paranoid.
- Logal, on 08/15/2009, -0/+3How about not using shortened links as a permanent bookmark archive? If you like something, bookmark it, sync it, and you're done, or subscribe to Delicious. short urls should only be used temporarily for sanity and security sake.
- inactive, on 08/14/2009, -6/+9***** Twitter.
- nogayskthx, on 08/15/2009, -1/+4Quamahlin, open your ***** mind you dumb piece of *****.
any field in any database that has ever existed with a char limit that stores misc. info is a prime example of a use for URL-shortening. - Qumahlin, on 08/15/2009, -0/+2Or they are the most likely to start injecting ads and other ***** since Twitter is currently non profitable nor do they have any real plan on how to profit....
You can only keep venture capital coming in long enough to prove you have a viable business model, something Twitter has been unable to do thus far.
Think about it, would you PAY for twitter? - m00nmaster, on 08/15/2009, -0/+2There are some sites where it is needed. TinyURL came out with a preview feature that let's you see the link first. But ultimately, the site with the issue needs to fix the problem.
- sbcea, on 08/14/2009, -4/+6This is a very cool idea. Hope it works.
- joshuaer, on 08/15/2009, -0/+1Wow not one person clicked on it lol it actually just goes to this page!
- inactive, on 08/15/2009, -1/+2em maybe 140 character limits on the web are ***** stupid.
- Qumahlin, on 08/15/2009, -2/+3"How do you know that the URL company won’t just start redirecting the links to somewhere else? Or what happens if that short URL provider shuts down?"
It's called linking to the actual ***** site and if the person you need to share a link with is hampered by a ***** system that uses messages of a max 140 characters you tell the person to try getting email or better yet ANYTHING other than twitter.
Twitter has no use. At all. People try to throw around things like "omg but what about the iranian election stuff"...guess what...they would have just used something else... - MeLikeyTacos, on 08/15/2009, -1/+2You mean (Twitter)?
- Qumahlin, on 08/15/2009, -2/+2"You can't be so naive as to think that's the only use for URL shorteners - they're everywhere nowadays"
By everywhere you mean solely used to hide the true link to get people to click on it right? Since Twitter and SMS are the only real services with a pathetic character limit what would be the point of using a short URL anywhere else? The URL can be 256 characters and its still one ***** click. - Qumahlin, on 08/15/2009, -3/+3"Would you prefer this?"
Why the ***** would I have a preference on how long the link I am clicking on is going to be? The real question is are you under the impression people are typing these links in by hand? No, they are cutting and pasting them to begin with.
So if the URL is Http://hjfdshjfdsjfhsdjfhasdjfhadjskfasdjfhasdjkfhasdjfhasdjklfhasdjklfhasdjkfhasjkdfhasdjkfh.com
It's one click. If the URL is <a class="user" href="http://gg.com," rel="nofollow">http://gg.com,</a> its still...one click.
So the answer is I prefer neither, because neither makes any difference in the actual usability. In fact the ONLY place it matters is SMS or Twitter and if your using either to send links to people then your a moron since i'm sure that same person has email or any number of other social networking clients that don't have ***** character limits.
Let's try this again, which do you prefer, the one where you know the link is going to take you, or the one where you have no ***** clue...either way its one click away - khimairaGT, on 08/14/2009, -3/+3mashable, i really dislike you.
- Qumahlin, on 08/15/2009, -2/+2Name one other use that doesn't involve deception
- CustomCars, on 08/14/2009, -3/+2great idea, let's hope it works
- NekoDre, on 08/15/2009, -3/+1Short URLs aren't blind for me, I use Firefox and short URL preview plug-ins. I don't really see this as a problem because most short URLs have a half-life of a week. Short URLs are a must for the 140 character Twitter posts.
- maximilen, on 08/14/2009, -4/+1FYI: Shortened URLs are used for more purposes than to keep you and your little Twitter freinds' Tweets about the minutiae of daily life under the character limit...
- maximilen, on 08/14/2009, -6/+2If anything, use bit.ly, as they are owned/affiliate with Twitter and the least likely to go out of business or ***** with their users.
- dontdoitjake, on 08/14/2009, -10/+5http://bit.ly/4kb77v
- vsujohn2, on 08/14/2009, -10/+4Um, I gonna disagree...
Would you prefer this?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q& ...
or http://tr.im/wqDe
If you don't trust the link/person giving it to you, don't click it!
I hate ridiculously long links and when you're texting/messaging someone it makes it much much easier. - joshuaer, on 08/14/2009, -11/+5http://bit.ly/kA4Iu only one way to find out where this link goes :-)
- syntaxgs, on 08/14/2009, -18/+9I agree I think a U,R,L ,are too long! it need too be short becosue when short it get easy too read and also they type and say the name of the U,R,L, and get it done when it finish much shorter then the other way of long U,R,L,
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