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

Recently I wrote
an article about how to see whats concealed 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 it. If the that worked with other URL shortening services, a few individuals emailed me to ask. The answer is it works with
TinyURLs..

Applications for EducationAs I wrote recently, constructing excellent digital citizenship and cyber security abilities is something that everybody ought to be helping our students do. Revealing them little suggestions like this one to avoid clicking suspicious links is among the ways that we can help our students develop their digital citizenship and cyber safety skills.

The technique is to include a “+” to the end of any TinyURL address in order to arrive on a safe TinyURL page that exposes 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 want to try 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 it.

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

This post initially appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. It has been used without permission if you see it somewhere else. Sites that routinely steal my (Richard Byrnes) work include CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.

The trick is to include “+” 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 reducing services. If you see it elsewhere, it has actually been used without permission.