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 in other places, it has been used without authorization.

Applications for EducationAs I wrote last week, constructing excellent digital citizenship and cyber security abilities is something that all of us must be helping our students do. Revealing them little pointers like this one to avoid clicking suspicious links is one of the methods that we can assist our students build their digital citizenship and cyber safety skills.

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

Last week I wrote
an article about how to see whats hidden behind a Bitly shortened URL without really clicking the link. The trick is to include “+” to the end of the Bitly URL to see whats behind it without clicking it. If the that worked with other URL reducing services, a couple of people emailed me to ask. The response is it works with
TinyURLs..

This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. It has actually been used without permission if you see it somewhere else. Websites that regularly steal my (Richard Byrnes) work consist of CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.

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

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 original link was that got shortened. You can then decide if you wish to click through to the destination or not.
If you wish to try this with a TinyURL, tinyurl.com/emkns9a8 will lead you to the page for the Practical Ed Tech Virtual Summer Camp, however adding a “+” at the end of that TinyURL will take you to the page where you can see the original link without clicking on it.