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

The technique is to include “+” to the end of the Bitly URL to see whats behind it without clicking on it. A couple of people emailed me to ask if the that worked with other URL reducing services. If you see it elsewhere, it has actually been utilized without permission.

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 reduced. If you desire to click through to the location or not, you can then choose.
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, however 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.

Applications for EducationAs I wrote last week, building excellent digital citizenship and cyber security skills is something that everyone should be assisting our students do. Revealing them little tips like this one to prevent clicking on suspicious links is one of the ways that we can assist our students construct their digital citizenship and cyber safety abilities.

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

This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. If you see it in other places, it has been used without permission. Websites that regularly steal my (Richard Byrnes) work include CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.

Recently I composed
a blog site post about how to see whats hidden behind a Bitly reduced URL 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. If the that worked with other URL reducing services, a few people emailed me to ask. The response is it deals with
TinyURLs..