Fedi.TipsJul 28, 2025

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
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 threadKingu

@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
Jul 28, 2025 at 7:58pmWeb