Bitly is a handy URL shortener that Ive utilized for several years. As a signed up user I can create customized, reduced URLs that people can really spell. I utilize these whenever I need to share a link to a Canva or Google Slides discussion since the default URLs provided by those services are incoherent and constantly long..

Applications for Education.
Building good digital citizenship and cyber security skills is something that all of us must be helping our trainees do. Showing them little tips like this one to prevent clicking suspicious links is among the manner ins which we can help our trainees build their digital citizenship and cyber safety abilities.

Bitly is an useful URL shortener that Ive used for numerous years. There is a simple method to rapidly determine whats behind a Bitly URL without actually clicking on the link. When you include the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly instead of to whatever the initial URL was.

This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. If you see it somewhere else, it has been used without authorization. Websites that routinely take my (Richard Byrnes) work consist of CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.

Unfortunately, not all Bitly users are utilizing them for great factors. Some people use them to hide wicked links. Thankfully, there is a simple method to rapidly determine whats behind a Bitly URL without actually clicking the link. The trick is to just include a “+” to the end of any Bitly URL. When you add the “+” the URL will reroute to Bitly instead of to whatever the original URL was. That will then show you the Bitly page on which the reduced URL is hosted and will show you what the original link was..
You can attempt this technique with a URL that I recently reduced. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL will lead you straight to a copy of the slides that I used in my current Intro to Teaching History With Technology webinar. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL+ will lead you to the Bitly page where you can see my initial discussion URL and see when I developed the reduced URL..
View this brief video to see how you can utilize the “+” trick to discover whats concealed behind a Bitly link..