Recently I composed
a blog post about how to see whats hidden behind a Bitly shortened URL without actually clicking on the link. The trick 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 reducing services. The answer is it deals with
TinyURLs..

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

The trick 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 been utilized without approval.

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

Ive attempted the “+” trick with a bunch of other URL reducing tools and TinyURL is the only one besides Bitly that Ive found it to work with..
Whats the trick?

Applications for EducationAs I wrote last week, developing great digital citizenship and cyber safety abilities is something that everyone need to be helping our students do. Showing them little pointers like this one to avoid clicking on suspicious links is among the methods that we can assist our trainees construct their digital citizenship and cyber security skills.

This post initially appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. If you see it somewhere else, it has been utilized without approval. Websites that regularly steal my (Richard Byrnes) work include CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.