this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2026
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What even is the point of URL shorteners? I always understood it as a Twitter thing, but I see them more outside of Twitter.
When sharing links with people in places where there’s a character limit or to avoid polluting visuals.
Also, when sharing like orally or showing it to someone else when you have no other way to communicate it: ex, the link of a shared cloud file
Infuriatingly, URL shortners are often used in QR codes because they have a character limit-ish (longer strings make for more detailed QR codes, which are harder to scan from further away so it's a trade-off). but if the QR points to a shortened link then it's more difficult to assess where a QR code is pointing without blindly following the link.
My biggest bugbear relating to this is the lack of a short text alternative for QR codes, especially with long URLs.
If the URL is too long to fit into a QR code, then it's also too long for me to type in manually!
I think I like an alternative that uses full words instead of a string of no sense symbols and mixed case letters.
Something like what What 3 Words does but for short URLs. That would be easy to convey and type
That's a very good idea.
Beside the number of permutations it gives, another benefit of using three words is they could form the border of the QR code, with the fourth side being the domain name
Yessss
eh, you can have pretty long strings already in QR code as compared to normal, just like WiFi passwords for example
I think sometimes it gives people analytics on how many people click the link when the link is to something they themselves don't control. But I'm not entirely sure if that's a common service shorteners offer.
They also sometimes give you the ability to change what the link points to which is great if you send out a link only to realise it went to the wrong place after the fact.
Easier to type when used on posters and other media where you can't simply copypaste
aesthetics
I find it handy for writing down a URL on paper
Okay, grandpa.
JK
Paper may be old-fashioned but I need something light for the carrier pigeon
I've heard papyrus is a great medium.
Jokes aside, hand-writing and reading actually helps out the brain.
Easier to memorize/type, that's about it.
Replaced by (unsafer) QR codes as of late and can still hide analytics.