Do people actually appreciate URL shorteners?

@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

@paveljanicek @hpod16 Works great! :3

https://service.hf25u.link/hidden_oodRd3_account_verification.pdf

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

@paveljanicek https://ic6do.com/N0DA2K_urgent_update.docm

@hpod16 I would only ever use it for the link in my bio.

@catsalad @hpod16 Your phishy URL asked me to come out & play, but my adblocker wouldn’t let me…

@juanejot @hpod16

Let's get creepy then! https://creepylink.com/

@hpod16 @catsalad Yeah, that one worked, but I’m disappointed not to see anything about the free dinner just for listening to a time-share sales pitch, where it linked me to.

@hpod16 theyre nice when i have to share a long url to a device that i have to type it out on, but i know where the link goes and only use open source ones

something something im an outlier and shouldn't be counted

@catsalad @paveljanicek @hpod16 https://support.ic6do.com/Ireqke_invoice lmao

@catsalad @paveljanicek @hpod16 omg @ivpn 's anti tracker blocked it

@hpod16 Yes, in some circumstances: if I trust the shortening service and it’s a printed URL (for inside, on a flyer) that I’ll have to type.

@paveljanicek @catsalad @hpod16 inevitably these end up getting used by scammers sadly

@hpod16 Same goes for links to documents instead of pages. I'd like to see some sort of clear declaration if what I'm about to click/tap will start downloading a file.

@catsalad I’m both surprised and not surprised that somebody went and made one of these.

@hpod16@eupolicy.social
I once liked them, when the character count was important in SMS or on Twitter. But now, there's no advantage but several drawbacks.

@hpod16 @LordCaramac i think its good for situations where people might need to type manually. flyer, presentations, …

mostly replaced by QR codes, i guess.

@dngrs @paveljanicek @catsalad @hpod16 ...why would the scammer use a "make the link more suspicious" button? If their links look like that, it's because these tools are based off of phishing links lol not because the scammers used the tool

@breizh @hpod16 this: I wouldn't mind link shorteners that don't hide where I'm going. If there were more vetted ones, I'd probably be down for those (currently the only ones I trust are corporate ones, which feels icky but also like... People can't really set a youtu.be link to some random scammy shit other than a YouTube video lol)

@hpod16

If it's a preview link, then I'm fine with it. Otherwise it's definitely a security risk that needs to be handled better.