URL Shortening
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
2 555 7777 666 0 8 9 666 0 8 44 88 6 22 0 55 33 999 444 66 4 ;P Take you back?
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
Twitter is one, but it arrived before that mainly for mobiles, its still not as easy as it should be to quickly easily transfer a link to/from mobile to other devices, a 6/8 character URL is far easier to type than some of the monstrosities that appear. Finally some sites still seem to embed War & Peace in the URL, so even ignoring mobiles, URL shorteners are useful.
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
There was an XKCD (I think) where a kid was asking his dad; "Dad, why is the internet full of broken links" and he replied "Because in the old days we thought url shortening services were a good idea". Disclaimer: paraphrased from bad memory
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
GenJerDan wrote:
Why do people use it?
Because momma's little baby loves it?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
As everyone has said, it is twitter and a big reason is because any link you post inside a tweet gets automatically shortened by twitter. The one place that a shortened url might be nice is in a printed book, then you don't have to type a long url in to get to something you are reading. I don't trust shortened URLs though, as most of us here don't.
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
How To Safely Preview Short URLs & Links - Bit.ly, TinyURL, Goo.gl, Snipurl, is.gd, Tiny.cc, Budurl[^] I even resisted the urge to run that link through half a dozen different URL-shorteners before posting it! :-D
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer
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Why do people use it? I could sort of see it being used if you have to type in the URL (but even then...typing gobbledygook correctly is not all that much easier than typing real words), but why use it for links someone is just going to click? Especially when a lot of systems have all sorts of "sensing" software on the network, and you don't know what you're going to be caught trying to access until after you click and the You're A Bad Boy screen pops up. :|
We won't sit down. We won't shut up. We won't go quietly away. YouTube and My Mu[sic], Films and Windows Programs, etc.
GenJerDan wrote:
Why do people use it?
1. Twitter posts. Gives you more room to fit text into your posts that contain URLs. 2.Click tracking for marketing purposes. Most of those URL shorteners have a backoffice that lets you see how many clicks you're getting.
On the other hand, you have different fingers. - Steven Wright
