# Should URL shorteners be banned? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 5, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946 "2011-11-05T11:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/21 "2011-11-07T15:38:34Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > No, it’s a non-sequitur. I may be ambivalent towards them, or think they’re totally great, but I would still find it frustrating if I clicked on one in an older thread and found it expired. I’ve clicked on links in old threads that go to major news sites and found them expired. It happens to any kind of link. Nothing special about URL shorteners in that respect. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/22 "2011-11-07T17:54:28Z")
In the last year, tinyurl has been used 15 times and bit.ly 83 times, (and quite a few of those hits were quotes of earlier posts employing them). I also noticed that a lot of bit.ly links were basically YouTube links–and YouTube, itself, is also pretty notorious for having a fairly short shelf life. Are we to ban YouTube, as well? The other thing I noticed was that the majority of them showed up in “passing scene” threads rather than threads that will be referenced over and over in the coming years. For those who are bothered by them, I would suggest that simply noting that you will refuse to open such links, (suggesting to the poster who provided them that if they wish to make a point, they need to go find the original source), would be an adequate method of controlling them. Want me to read your hilarious link? Post it with the original url. Want me to accept your citation in this argument? Don’t hide it behind a shortened url. I, too, am reluctant to add one more rule. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/23 "2011-11-07T18:11:52Z")
I agree that they’re annoying and usually a bad idea, but I also haven’t seen that they’re really common enough around here to warrant a solution. The bigger problem, I think, is YouTube or IMDb links without any context given-- Someone will ask “What’s your favorite movie?”, and someone will reply with a link to IMDb that just says “This one”, or something. It breaks the flow of the conversation to have to follow a link to see what someone is saying. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/24 "2011-11-07T18:46:59Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > No, it’s a non-sequitur. The core of the argument was that the OP didn’t like them, which was the point I was responding to. The individual reasons are largely irrelevant since no one is forcing you to link a short url, so if you’re easily annoyed by expired links, you can also easily ignore them. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/25 "2011-11-07T22:15:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I agree that they’re annoying and usually a bad idea, but I also haven’t seen that they’re really common enough around here to warrant a solution. The bigger problem, I think, is YouTube or IMDb links without any context given-- Someone will ask “What’s your favorite movie?”, and someone will reply with a link to IMDb that just says “This one”, or something. It breaks the flow of the conversation to have to follow a link to see what someone is saying. Here,here. I won’t click on youtube links that have no context. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/26 "2011-11-08T00:44:17Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > I’ve clicked on links in old threads that go to major news sites and found them expired. It happens to any kind of link. Nothing special about URL shorteners in that respect. True, but URL shorteners make it worse, because now it fails if either the shortened URL is expired, or the original URL. [QUOTE=Red Barchetta] The core of the argument was that the OP didn’t like them, which was the point I was responding to. The individual reasons are largely irrelevant since no one is forcing you to link a short url, so if you’re easily annoyed by expired links, you can also easily ignore them. [/QUOTE] True, but it ‘proves too much.’ You could use the same reasoning to argue that since no one is forcing me to read this board, any individual reasons I have for anything that bother me are ‘irrelevant.’ It’s kind of missing the point. The OP raised a couple reasons that using URL shorteners are bad practice. I think those reasons are valid. Saying I could ignore shortened URLs doesn’t really address the validity of the OP’s point. (The OP also asked that they be banned, but I’m not supporting that.) ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/27 "2011-11-08T01:19:16Z")
Yes, let’s have as many rules as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/28 "2011-11-08T02:01:54Z")
In the case of Tinyurl anyway you can turn on a preview feature at their site. ([TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL](http://tinyurl.com/preview.php?)) With that option enabled, anytime you click on a Tinyurl anywhere it will take you to an intermediary page on their site that shows you the full URL and gives you the option to proceed or cancel. ETA Woops, ninja’d by post 11, two days ago. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/29 "2011-11-08T02:32:16Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > For those who are bothered by them, I would suggest that simply noting that you will refuse to open such links, (suggesting to the poster who provided them that if they wish to make a point, they need to go find the original source), would be an adequate method of controlling them. > > Want me to read your hilarious link? Post it with the original url. > Want me to accept your citation in this argument? Don’t hide it behind a shortened url. > > I, too, am reluctant to add one more rule. I think that this is a very good solution. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/30 "2011-11-08T03:00:33Z")
I use FF w/ CoolPreviews addon so I don’t have to click the link to see where it’s pointing. However, I still don’t get why people use them. Someone upthread mentioned that they use them if the URL has something that would give the link away but those opportunities would be few and far between IMO. Some URL’s can be wordy but since it’s a single click for the end user, who cares? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/31 "2011-11-08T05:19:50Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > We’ve already got rules in place to handle what links we allow. The last thing this place needs is more rules to enforce. > [@Chronos](#): > > The bigger problem, I think, is YouTube or IMDb links without any context given-- Someone will ask “What’s your favorite movie?”, and someone will reply with a link to IMDb that just says “This one”, or something. It breaks the flow of the conversation to have to follow a link to see what someone is saying. Yes, we already have rules in force about this. Here’s a relevant excerpt: > [@FAQ - Rules for Posting at the Straight Dope Message Boards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faq-rules-for-posting-at-the-straight-dope-message-boards/369395/9): > > (1) LINKS SHOULD BE DESCRIBED > When posting links, please be courteous to your fellow posters: describe what you are linking to. It does not have to be a lengthy description, but “See this political cartoon” is better than “This is funny!” > > If your link is primary to the topic when starting a thread, please explain not only what the link is, but why you are linking there. Don’t just post a link to a news story or video and expect people to start a conversation about it. > INCORRECT: “Ain’t this cool?” > CORRECT: “This looks like the coolest electronic cat-feeder ever!” ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946/32 "2011-11-08T20:24:06Z")
I’ll use them for extremely long URLs, and URLs that include quotation marks which can’t be parsed correctly in bbcode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-url-shorteners-be-banned/601946.md?page=1)