This post initially appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. It has been used without permission if you see it elsewhere. Websites that routinely steal my (Richard Byrnes) work include CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.

There is a simple method to quickly determine whats behind a Bitly URL without actually 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 reroute to Bitly instead of to whatever the original URL was.
You can try 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 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 presentation URL and see when I created the shortened URL..
See this brief video to see how you can utilize the “+” technique to discover whats concealed behind a Bitly link..

Bitly is a convenient URL shortener that Ive utilized for several years. As a registered user I can create customized, shortened URLs that individuals can in fact 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 incoherent and constantly long..

Bitly is a helpful URL shortener that Ive utilized for lots of years. There is an easy method to quickly identify whats behind a Bitly URL without actually clicking on the link. When you include the “+” the URL will reroute to Bitly rather of to whatever the initial URL was.

Applications for Education.
Building excellent digital citizenship and cyber safety abilities is something that everyone need to be assisting our trainees do. Showing them little suggestions like this one to prevent clicking on suspicious links is one of the methods that we can help our students develop their digital citizenship and cyber security abilities.