The technique is to add “+” to the end of the Bitly URL to see whats behind it without clicking on it. A few individuals emailed me to ask if the that worked with other URL shortening services. If you see it elsewhere, it has actually been utilized without approval.

Applications for EducationAs I wrote last week, constructing good digital citizenship and cyber safety abilities is something that all of us need to be assisting our students do. Showing them little pointers like this one to avoid clicking on suspicious links is one of the ways that we can help our trainees develop their digital citizenship and cyber security abilities.

Ive tried the “+” trick with a lot of other URL shortening tools and TinyURL is the only one besides Bitly that Ive discovered it to deal with..
Whats the technique?

This post initially appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. If you see it in other places, it has actually been used without permission. Sites that routinely steal my (Richard Byrnes) work consist of CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.

Recently I wrote
The technique is to add “+” to the end of the Bitly URL to see whats behind it without clicking on it. A couple of individuals emailed me to ask if the that worked with other URL shortening services.
TinyURLs..

The trick is to include a “+” to the end of any TinyURL address in order to arrive on a safe TinyURL page that reveals what the original link was that got reduced. You can then choose if you wish to click through to the destination or not.
If you desire to attempt this with a TinyURL, tinyurl.com/emkns9a8 will lead you to the page for the Practical Ed Tech Virtual Summer Camp, but including a “+” at the end of that TinyURL will take you to the page where you can see the initial link without clicking on it.

Heres a video overview of how to see whats behind a TinyURL without actually clicking on the link.