Not all Bitly users are utilizing them for good factors. Some individuals utilize them to hide dubious links. Luckily, there is an easy way to quickly determine whats behind a Bitly URL without actually clicking on the link. The trick is to simply include a “+” to the end of any Bitly URL. When you add the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly rather of to whatever the initial URL was. That will then show you the Bitly page on which the reduced URL is hosted and will show you what the initial link was..
You can attempt this trick with a URL that I just recently reduced. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL will lead you directly to a copy of the slides that I used my current Intro to Teaching History With Technology webinar. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL+ will lead you to the Bitly page where you can see my original discussion URL and see when I developed the reduced URL..
Enjoy this short video to see how you can use the “+” technique to find out whats concealed behind a Bitly link..

Bitly is a helpful URL shortener that Ive utilized for many years. There is an easy way to rapidly identify whats behind a Bitly URL without in fact clicking on the link. When you include the “+” the URL will reroute to Bitly rather of to whatever the original URL was.

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

Applications for Education.
Structure great digital citizenship and cyber safety skills is something that everybody should be helping our trainees do. Revealing them little pointers like this one to avoid clicking on suspicious links is one of the ways that we can help our trainees construct their digital citizenship and cyber security skills.

Bitly is an useful URL shortener that Ive utilized for lots of years. As a signed up user I can create custom, shortened URLs that individuals can actually spell. I utilize these whenever I need to share a link to a Canva or Google Slides discussion because the default URLs offered by those services are always long and incoherent..