You don't need to use link shorteners on Mastodon!
All links on Mastodon count as 23 characters towards your post limit, no matter how long the links actually are.
Link shortener services like bit.ly, t.co etc track users who click on their links. This is really bad for privacy. If you use link shorteners on Mastodon, people may assume you are just doing it for tracking purposes.
More info at https://fedi.tips/you-dont-need-link-shorteners-on-mastodon
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Heh, I wouldn't discount the use of goodwill shorteners like #Envs for badly formed URLs, as an exception. Although, when you copy from address bar, browsers would make sure to make link compatible with standard, so it's pretty rare you'd ever end up with such a URL.
I had to use URL shortener yesterday to satisfy Youtube's parsing of my Matrix.to channel link. But parser on Mastodon is OK.
You've just listed cases of short-links being used, not legitimate reasons to do so. Besides it's a fact that analytics is the most common purpose for such links.
If you redirect in order to provide more descriptive or permanent links, then there is no reason to rely on tracking services with privacy-unfriendly terms of service.
But even then it remains a bad practice security-wise.
@eagerpebble @feditips Fully agree. The original post is an oversimplification. I use link shorteners to make the link memorable, so people can remember it and share it via a range of channels. This is very important for effective advocacy/activism.
If there’s one thing that’s going to doom Mastodon, it’s the preachy tendency of some to think there’s only one right way to do things.
@feditips but why 23?
I can understand like 11 or so.
@feditips
Seems like any link works, e. g. https://youtube.com/?q=I%27d%20just%20like%20to%20interject%20for%20a%20moment.%20What%20you%27re%20referring%20to%20as%20Linux%2C%20is%20in%20fact%2C%20GNUeleifend.%20Ornare%20aenean%20euismod%20elementum%20nisi.%20Tortor%20consequat%20id%20porta%20nibh%20venenatis%20cras%20sed%20felis.%20Morbi%20tincidunt%20ornare%20massa%20eget%20egestas%20purus%20viverra%20accumsan%20in.%20A%20arcu%20cursus%20vitae%20congue.%20Senectus%20et%20netus%20et%20malesuada.%20Non%20tellus%20orci%20ac%20auctor%20augue.%20Aliquam%20ultrices%20sagittis%20orci%20a%20scelerisque%20purus%20semper%20eget%20duis.%20Lorem%20donec%20massa%20sapien%20faucibus%20et.%20Vitae%20purus%20faucibus%20ornare%20suspendisse%20sed%20nisi%20lacus.%20Eu%20turpis%20egestas%20pretium%20aenean%20pharetra%20magna.%20Nunc%20mi%20ipsum%20faucibus%20vitae%20aliquet%20nec.%20Leo%20a%20diam%20sollicitudin%20tempor%20id%20semper%20risus.%20Mattis%20ullamcorper%20velit%20sed%20ullamcorper%20morbi%20tincidunt.%20Etiam%20tempor%20orci%20eu%20lobortis%20elementum%20nibh%20tellus%20molestie.%20Consequat%20mauris%20nunc%20congue%20nisi%20vitae%20suscipit%20tellus%20mauris.%20Maecenas%20sed%20enim%20ut%20sem%20viverra%20aliquet.%20At%20tempor%20commodo%20ullamcorper%20a%20lacus%20vestibulum.%20Nunc%20pulvinar%20sapien%20et%20ligula%20ullamcorper.%20Ornare%20massa%20eget%20egestas%20purus%20viverra%20accumsan%20in%20nisl%20nisi.%20Varius%20duis%20at%20consectetur%20lorem%20donec%20massa%20sapien%20fauc
Ok, really works #characters
The security-risk angle of link shorteners hadn't even occured to me, but I'm glad to see confirmation like this that they're NOT necessary. Thank you for posting this up!
@feditips And while they are only visually 23 characters, they are read in full by screen readers so actually suck
the raw link situation on mastodon is one of the worst parts of it and i hate seeing it touted as having "removed any practical use" for link shorteners, when actually, it "removed any practical use for link shorteners i personally think exist"
my personal preference is having plain text context of the link given before a warning a raw link follows
so, something like
the wikipedia page for HTML (raw link) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML
but there's no clean solution at all without hyperlinks
@Lachesis there is actually an similar attribute for hyperlinks and it’s super helpful when used but rarely is - it can add more context to the reason for the link and what to expect when taking it beyond the destination
it's the "title" attribute for <a> (needed to verify)
my screenreader is set to a priority of title -> hyperlinked text -> URL and chooses the highest priority on the list that exists
@feditips
this standards page should give you an idea of what I mean (raw link follows) https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H33.html
i can skip to text after the link, so I don't have to sit and listen to the whole thing, but it's a pain because I often prefer being able to have typing not interrupt reading and I have to swap to browse macros to do that and can't keep working
so it's not as catastrophic as something like leet speak which is just horrible noise out of left field
@feditips Another reason not to use link shorteners is that they completely obscure the actual destination of the link. A link like:
... actually tells you something about what it's going to take you to. The shortened equivalent:
... tells you nothing whatsoever. Might be a phishing site. Or malware. Or a booby-trapped document. Or a spam site.
Don't use link shorteners, anywhere.
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