Do you use a URL shortener? Some people find them handy while others are concerned with security problems they present. If there are certain benefits / detriments of a URL shortener that convern you please state what they are. If you use a URL shortener please state which service(s) you normally use. thanks
Yes, x.co if there's character limitation. That's what they're made for. I don't bother with them on printed paper, which is plain laziness at the expense of clarity, security, and availability.
Yes. Not very often unless needed. i normally provide the whole link. When I do use a URL shortening service I use TinyURL or Bitly via URL Shrink Easy :: Add-ons for Firefox - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/url-shrink-easy/
With exception to url shortening in firefox (which I disabled), I do not knowingly use URL shortening services. The average computer user is already prone to clicking on links blindly, so the thought of adding to that seems ill-advised. Especially services that doing so sometimes invovles concealing the target URL.
That actually uses more characters and isn't always supported either. It isn't a replacement thanks to to sites like Twitter.
I never have and ever will use one. The reason is that quite simply I want the actual link to visible, rather than a link to one of these services. On top of that I really don't like them because if the services stops or the links expires you now have dead links which would still working if the original URL had been linked to.
Absolutely not. I do not click on links whose destination I can't even guess, and I don't expect anyone else to either.
You can more than guess with the multitude of URL unshortener services nowadays. I'd like to always use normal URLs as well, but that's simply not possible sometimes.
Did you read my previous posts? More examples include the signature limitation on some forums and message length limitations on some chat platforms.
Agree with J_L, there are times when a shortened URL is needed. As for seeing where a shortened URL is really going, I use a Greasemonkey script called LongURL Mobile Expander which lets me see with the shortened URL is actually pointing. LongURL Mobile Expander for Greasemonkey - http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/169549
Sorry, I missed that, and I can see limited reasons for using them now. Still, I won't be using such services any time soon.
URL shortener services becomes handy for Twitter and the likes. However, I get a bit annoyed when I get those type of links so out of mere respect for others who share my sentiments: NO.
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/01/this-link-will-self-destruct-create.html I need a reliable self-destructing link service. The one recommended on the above link does not work anymore.
NO You couldn't pay me enough to click a link I can't know the target for, I won't encourage others to do anything so silly by using one either.
Exactly. Not knowing where the link is headed to. Almost always it's a link ad revenue service redirect or worse, compared to the few legit times you use a service where pasting a full url is a hassle.
