This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. It has been utilized without consent if you see it in other places. Sites that routinely steal my (Richard Byrnes) work include CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.

Bitly is a handy URL shortener that Ive used for lots of years. There is a simple method to rapidly identify whats behind a Bitly URL without in fact clicking on the link. When you include the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly instead of to whatever the original URL was.

Applications for Education.
Building great digital citizenship and cyber safety abilities is something that everybody need to be assisting our students do. Revealing them little tips like this one to prevent clicking suspicious links is among the manner ins which we can assist our trainees construct their digital citizenship and cyber safety abilities.

Bitly is an useful URL shortener that Ive utilized for numerous years. As a registered user I can develop customized, reduced URLs that individuals can actually spell. I utilize these whenever I require to share a link to a Canva or Google Slides discussion since the default URLs provided by those services are constantly long and incoherent..

Unfortunately, not all Bitly users are using them for good factors. Some people use them to conceal wicked links. There is a simple way to quickly identify whats behind a Bitly URL without really clicking on the link. The technique is to merely add a “+” to the end of any Bitly URL. When you add the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly rather of to whatever the original URL was. That will then reveal you the Bitly page on which the shortened URL is hosted and will reveal you what the original link was..
You can attempt this trick with a URL that I just recently shortened. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL will lead you straight to a copy of the slides that I utilized in my recent Intro to Teaching History With Technology webinar. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL+ will lead you to the Bitly page where you can see my original presentation URL and see when I produced the reduced URL..
Enjoy this brief video to see how you can use the “+” trick to find out whats hidden behind a Bitly link..