Do people actually appreciate URL shorteners?

[hpod16@eupolicy.social]

Do people actually appreciate URL shorteners?

[molenaar@hsnl.social]

@hpod16 It is good to know that for Mastodon, all URLs count as having the same amount of characters. So specifically for Mastodon, not using one adds clarity without shortening your message.

[vladcampos@mastodon.social]

@hpod16 I only click if the URL is from the company, institution, or person sharing them. The ones I share with my audience are always created with my domain.

[haayman@todon.nl]

@hpod16 I use it for 1 purpose: for some shared Google document I create a custom, descriptive URL

[caprarius@piaille.fr]

@hpod16 they hide destinations for users and apps, it’s a security and privacy threat. And it also breaks apps integration: the link is first open in a browser and then into the appropriate apps (yes I'm looking at you @lemonde and @pixelsfr).

[funkylab@mastodon.social]

@molenaar @hpod16 IIRC that's common among most social networks, including Twitter; the time of link shorteners is over, aside from the ones that google forces on users (don't copy&paste links out of google apps, you get a tracking shortened link)

[cruiser@expressional.social]

@hpod16 We are not representative for the human race here.... regrettably

[catsalad@infosec.exchange]

@hpod16 I prefer URL embiggeners (especially the sketchy looking ones)

Create a Phishy URL

(phishyurl.com)

[breizh@pleroma.breizh.pm]

@hpod16@eupolicy.social I don’t like them, but if it’s something like youtu.be links where you don’t really lose information, then it’s ok.

[ricardoharvin@mstdn.social]

@hpod16 I hate them, do not like or trust them, and just muted Tge Conversation UK a few minutes for using them.

Never use URL shorteners at any time, for any reason, under any circumstance, is my opinion.

EDIT: Unfortunately, I do regularly share YouTube links, hypocritically.

[thing@plasmatrap.com]

@hpod16@eupolicy.social straight up NO.
if the url is too long, just use markdown to turn it into a small link text. or, use the similar thing in html.

[joshg@mathstodon.xyz]

@hpod16
only for live presentations where the participants need to type something in from on-screen, and only if the URL is awkwardly long with random looking bits.

[neblib@mastodo.neoliber.al]

@hpod16 intranet / group / own shorteners (where authentication and auditing with consequences can happen) - yes they are great, especially at big orgs.

Internet sourced and shared - no, way too easy to do bad things.

[raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie]

@hpod16
They are potentially evil. Only existed because original Twitter was a stupid design and had too small a text limit as if the Internet was an early GSM phone,

[finickydesert_1@social.vivaldi.net]

It's tricky; i think it's neat but, it's prone to misdirect people into malicious sites.

[paveljanicek@mamutovo.cz]

@catsalad @hpod16 Or, https://creepylink.com

[combs@mastodon.art]

@hpod16 @joshg That plus QR codes, which get harder to scan as url length increases!

[nothacking@infosec.exchange]

@hpod16 No, it just adds another failure point. If you have annoyingly long URLs like:

example.com/cgi-bin/pages/2025/02/13/posts/pages.php?article=rocks&format=html

... you should fix that. If you absolutely must, just set a short link on the same server:

Redirect example.com/rocks -> example.com/cgi-bin/pages/2025/02/13/posts/pages.php?article=rocks&format=html

[catsalad@infosec.exchange]

@paveljanicek @hpod16 Works great! :3

Important link - click here

Click to view content

(service.hf25u.link)

[crazyeddie@mastodon.social]

@hpod16 "I don't care" is a no btw