floJul 28, 2025
Fedi.Tips

You probably should not use link shorteners, here's why:

- All links on Mastodon count as 23 characters no matter how long they really are. There is no need to shorten links on Mastodon, it won't save you any space.

- Link shorteners endanger privacy by allowing click tracking, and by hiding what is actually being clicked.

- Shortener providers will shut down, breaking all their links. e.g. Google's shortened links will all show 404 errors from September: https://chaos.social/@root42/114929876895398208

#FediTips

root42 (@[email protected])

Another reminder that you should never ever use link shorteners: https://www.heise.de/en/news/Google-s-URL-shortener-goo-gl-will-only-show-404-errors-from-the-end-of-August-10501127.html

chaos.social
Jul 28, 2025 at 1:00pmWeb
Show threadFedi.TipsJul 28, 2025

p.s. Just to make this extra clear, by "link shortener" I mean services like bit.ly etc which replace your link with a totally different link via their service.

I do not mean manually shortening links by removing trackers. It's totally 100% fine to manually shorten links to remove trackers, people should do that, and that's not what I'm posting about.

Show threadS★m V★rm★Jul 28, 2025
@FediTips So I noticed that when I share links to mastodon from the iOS share sheet, the tracker (text after the ? If I'm understanding this correctly) indicates that it's coming from activity pub. I'd like to promote the 'Verse, so is that letting web admins know that traffic is coming from here? Any pros/cons?
Show threadFedi.TipsJul 28, 2025

@samvarma

I hadn't noticed trackers like that? When I've tried sharing with iOS it just gives me a plain link?

However, "ActivityPub" is indeed the technical name for the protocol used by Mastodon and the wider Fediverse.

Show threadS★m V★rm★Jul 29, 2025
@FediTips Not every site does it, but here's what I'm seeing. Wonder if it's flipboard adding that?
Show threadCiencia Al PoderJul 29, 2025
@samvarma
utm_ URL parameters are typically used by Google trackers. I'm pretty sure they're added by the site you're clicking the share button. @FediTips
Show threadS★m V★rm★Jul 29, 2025

@ciencia @FediTips Aha. So

IF fuck=google
THEN remove everything after the ?, even if it says activitypub?

Show threadFedi.TipsJul 29, 2025

@samvarma @ciencia

It depends on whether you want a data broker to potentially know you found that link on a particular kind of site.

If you want maximum privacy, remove ?UTM and everything after it.

Show threadS★m V★rm★Jul 29, 2025
@FediTips @ciencia I just want what's beneficial for mastodon, but I think all of us here would prefer privacy
Show threadFedi.TipsJul 29, 2025

@samvarma

Ahhh okay, I thought you meant the other way round (from a Mastodon app to elsewhere).

Yeah, a lot of websites do have extensions that let them track where a link is. Especially commercial services.

Show threadChewieAug 1, 2025
@FediTips Yes!
Don't make more work for these guys: https://wiki.archiveteam.org/ - they have enough to do already!
Archiveteam

Show threadkatzenbergerJul 28, 2025

@FediTips

Also, some link shorteners are injecting advertising pages you are forced to watch, before you're being forwarded to the actual target.

Show threadquangobaudJul 28, 2025
@FediTips
Conversely, long url's full of trackers!
Show threadFedi.TipsJul 28, 2025

@miguelpergamon

"URL shorteners" mean things like bit.ly, goo.gl etc where you can't see what you're clicking on, the click travels via a third party service.

It doesn't mean short URLs or URLs with trackers stripped away from them. Those are fine! 🙂

Show threadquangobaudJul 28, 2025
@FediTips
Yes, I agree. But, YouTube's links usually contain a tracker on the end, and Google produces huge url's as a service to companies like the BBC that both benefit from but aren't necessarily in the interests of the user.
Show threadFedi.TipsJul 28, 2025

@miguelpergamon

It is 100% fine to remove those trackers 👍

It is 100% fine to shorten links manually 👍

I'm not posting about those 🙂

I just mean services like bit.ly where they replace the link with their own service's URLs. These "shortened" links include their own trackers and keep the existing trackers from the long URL too.

Show threadquangobaudJul 28, 2025
@FediTips
Yeah, I hate those. 👍
Show threadKinguJul 28, 2025

@miguelpergamon @FediTips

For viz, I have this little tool that can help clean up Youtube links

https://kingu.mrpetovan.com/NowPlaying/songlink.html

Universal Music Link Generator - Song.link Interface

Transform platform-specific music links into universal links that work everywhere. Convert YouTube and Spotify links to song.link URLs with QR codes and custom templates.

Universal Music Link Generator
Show threadAxel RauschmayerJul 28, 2025
@FediTips Additionally: Shortened URLs are much less robust w.r.t. typos.
Show threadSam WilsonJul 28, 2025
@FediTips I think w.wiki is about the only one I trust, and maybe the Flickr one as that's really just encoding a photo ID to base 58.
Show threadDavid HarveyJul 28, 2025
@FediTips a I’ve noticed artists are using linktree links on Instagram rather than artist namemusic.com
Show threadGJ Groothedde 🇪🇺Jul 28, 2025

@FediTips Four hundred and four errors! That's an AWFUL lot!!

(No, it's a joke.)

Show threadRyan WildJul 28, 2025

@FediTips Absolutely agree, there have been so many issues with link shortneres closing down and making it easy for history to be re-written, the Gardian here in the UK As a prime example - https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/02/never-use-a-url-shortening-service-even-if-you-own-it/

I've generally found only one or two cases where I genuinely need a link shortner and it's usually with the following conditions:

1) I own said link shortener and can control the data and how long it stays alive

2) I need someone else (or a group) to access a URL which would be difficult to type and where I need to provide the information on hard-copy or a presentation and can't for some easy reason send everyone the details.

3) The useful life of the link is short, generally a day or two at most, no risk of history being re-written because nobody's ever going to need to open the link again.

I've used it when running technical game-days or training sessions face to face where I can spin up a link and destroy it afterwards but that's about the only useful time...

Never use a URL shortening service - even if you own it

The Guardian launched its online adventures back in 1999. At some point, they started using the name "Guardian Unlimited". Hey, the dot com boom made us all do crazy things! As part of that branding, they proudly used the domain GU.com Over time, the branding faded and GU.com became a URL shortening service. Tiny URls like gu.com/abc could be printed in papers, sent via SMS, or posted on…

Terence Eden’s Blog
Show threadFedi.TipsJul 28, 2025

@wild1145

Good grief... shame on the Guardian for doing that!

Show threadAdrian MoralesJul 28, 2025
@FediTips I never wanted any link shorteners. I just want more characters.
Show threadYazadJul 28, 2025
@FediTips thank you for the explainer. Interested in knowing how the team decided on the number 23 for all urls of any side shared on mastodon.
Show threadDuncan BlairJul 28, 2025

@yazad3 my understanding is that Twitter had a 23 char count for URLs after introducing t(.)co for all links (which all shortened to 23 chars). Mastodon just used the same count but without the need for a shortener.

At least that’s what I read a while ago but I can’t find a source for it now, so I might be completely wrong/misremembering!

Show threadYazadAug 2, 2025
@nimro thank you!
Show threadFedi.TipsJul 28, 2025

@yazad3

It was the number of characters in Twitter's old shortener service. The idea was to match the size but avoid all the privacy and link rot problems.

Show threadYazadJul 29, 2025
@FediTips Thank you, love the though behind it.
Show threadShnizmuffiNJul 28, 2025

@FediTips

Counterpoint: Cross-domain redirects are useful sometimes. It's possible to roll your own!

https://selfh.st/apps/?alternative=Bitly

Self-Hosted Software and Apps

A directory of self-hosted software and applications for easy browsing and discovery

selfh.st
Show threadLillyLyle/Count MelancholiaJul 28, 2025
@FediTips Do links with fewer than 23 chars also count as 23? #JustCurious
Show threadFedi.TipsJul 28, 2025

@LillyHerself

Yes, all links count as 23.

Show threadMark CrockerJul 28, 2025

@FediTips For an example of a big player in the link shortener business, shutting down, Goo.gl is being turned off! 😏

https://indieweb.social/@mcrocker/114911164918709599

Mark Crocker (@[email protected])

Surprise! Google kills another service https://boingboing.net/2025/07/24/surprise-google-kills-another-service-because-theyre-bored.html #LinkShortener(s) are horrible for the Internet, precisely because this sort of thing keeps happening... and because they act like trackers, and other stuff. I like that "You don’t need link shorteners on Mastodon" https://fedi.tips/you-dont-need-link-shorteners-on-mastodon/ , but people still use them 🤷‍♂️ Google "sunsetting" useful stuff (not _this_ time) they haven't figured out isn't even disappointing any more. 😏

Indieweb.Social