 I see more and more often that people post bit.ly links here. Please don't. First and foremost — it hides the real URL, so I don't know where I am sent to. Second: you force me to use a service that collects, aggregates and shares data on who clicks what when, which I consider very bad practice. Finally, no matter how long your URL is, it only counts as 23 characters in your post, so no need to "shorten" links [1] TL;DR post real links and don't spy on me. #kthxbai 38 comments
@mjj No matter how long the link is, it only counts as 23 characters in a post. There’s no need to use a “shortener service” which is just a nice sounding name for data hoovers trying to build analytics to sell.  @jwildeboer I remember in the Indieweb context people talking about permashortlinks - https://indieweb.org/permashortlink Links also always count as 23 characters regardless of actual length. So the only reason to use a URL shortener like bit.ly is tracking.  @jwildeboer Which, of course, does not invalidate your point of 'well, people don't _need_ a shortener on here'; Which is true... but people ... The (somewhat crappy) tool for that btw comes from the realization that all available stacks for self-hosted shortening are API-driven data-tracking behemoth... because that's what you want when running shortner. -.-'  @tfiebig@wybt.net I wish public URL shorter are like this where they tell you which you heading so I know I ain't going to get prank/shock video on my screen. Really interesting that!  @jwildeboer I suspect a lot of people (especially news sites and companies) use URL shorters here because without them they have no metrics on how many people click their links posted here...  Just to complete your post: you may want also to clean an url before posting it. There are many url cleaner applications available, please avoid posting any url that may track people.  @jwildeboer @jwildeboer no one is making anyone click on any links. I don’t understand why everything on this “Fediverse” has to take such a lecturing and sanctimonious tone. @alfa_vuk@metalhead.club This is me talking with experience back when I download Minecraft mods around 2010s, some shorter URL link services are so dodgy that my Kaspersky won't stop sending notication that they blocked malware from being downloaded while had to wait 5 seconds for adf.ly to allow me to the website the URL shorter was heading to.  @jwildeboer Social media has created so many unsound and unsafe practices, with link shorteners among them.  @funnymonkey @jwildeboer The only URL shorteners I don't want to stop existing are those like https://z6a.info or shadyurl.click For a sample of their output: https://z6a.info/hotmai1!Ul9Op+swisslottowinner ;) @jwildeboer good post! you might like this android app that's changed my life. it wont show a bit.ly link, but it's great for removing trackers and extra &$% link bits @jwildeboer If you're tempted to click the bit.ly link but aren't sure it's safe and want to know the real URL, bit.ly offers a preview service here: https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/p/link-checker @jwildeboer The .ly also means the domain is controlled by the Libyans. The Taliban kicked LGBTQ websites off of .af domains recently. There's always a risk of something like that happening with dot LY top level domains.  @jwildeboer You can leave all that tracking data on my server (and mess with it) through https://dere.alanlangford.com  @jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net I never follow a link shortener for that first reason -- I have no idea where I am heading.  As someone who uses a URL shortner it’s because on my set up (probably something to do with using Tootle and my instance) URLs do count for their exact character count, not 23. I only use them when it’s impossible to make my point without using them. If you don’t like clicking on them, then no one is making you.  @JugglingWithEggs @jwildeboer if the one post isn't enough i put references in there (¹, ², ³ and so on) and drop all the links into a reply to my post. much neater for reading too as there are no big character blobs in between. would be interested how accessible that is for people using screen readers, can anyone tell from experience?  @jwildeboer I appreciate you taking time to write that post. The probability that the article is both worthwhile and presents unique remarks is getting increasingly low these days. And those whom I read for pleasure not for info consumption they can track me however they want. Though coincidentally they usually offer RSS. @jwildeboer  @shansterable @jwildeboer I like the new Firefox option to copy a URL without the tracking guff. @shansterable @jwildeboer not always is the information after the '?' for tracking. sometimes there is the product id in a shop in there and if you leave it out you will just get the start page or something similar. but generally speaking you are right.  @jwildeboer   @jwildeboer i never have understood why ppl are using bit fly instead of just giving a link. |
Gregory's Server
@jwildeboer There should be enough characters here to ditch that particular Twitter habit.
I have an instance of self-hosted link shortener YOURLS, but I use it to make shortlinks for myself for complicated links...