Bitly is an useful URL shortener that Ive utilized for several years. As a registered user I can create custom-made, shortened URLs that people can really spell. I utilize these whenever I require to share a link to a Canva or Google Slides discussion because the default URLs provided by those services are constantly long and incoherent..

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

Applications for Education.
Building great digital citizenship and cyber security abilities is something that everyone should be assisting our trainees do. Revealing them little suggestions like this one to prevent clicking suspicious links is one of the ways that we can assist our students develop their digital citizenship and cyber safety skills.

Regrettably, not all Bitly users are using them for great reasons. Some individuals utilize them to conceal wicked links. Fortunately, there is a simple way to quickly identify whats behind a Bitly URL without really clicking on the link. The trick is to merely add a “+” to the end of any Bitly URL. When you add the “+” the URL will redirect to Bitly instead of to whatever the original URL was. That will then show you the Bitly page on which the shortened URL is hosted and will reveal you what the original link was..
You can try this trick with a URL that I just recently shortened. Bit.ly/ THWTAPRIL will lead you directly to a copy of the slides that I utilized 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 short video to see how you can use the “+” trick to discover out whats concealed behind a Bitly link..

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