shortlink
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A shortlink is the use of a short-domain to create a link that redirects to a longer link, popularized on Twitter with third party link shortener services, and ideally are first-party permashortlinks, for indieweb POSSEing and other use-cases.
For the rel-shortlink specification, see:
Use cases
See: URL design, especially:
- URL design: Avoid long links for reasons to use shortlinks, especially when posting places other than your own site.
Service Examples
Bitly
bit.ly is a third party link shortener service that has been around for a while (since when?)
- you can use "j.mp" for bit.ly paths to shorten the link even shorter by two characters, and avoid using the restrictive .ly ccTLD.
See Others
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortening#Notable_services for a longer list that does not need to be replicated here (unless there is some IndieWeb-specific use or criticism).
Silo Examples
Flickr
Flickr has a first-party only short domain at:
that appears to redirect any non-empty paths to www.flickr.com
YouTube
YouTube has a first-party (only?) short domain at:
Criticism
Worsens link fragility
Third party shortlinks (especially those that store the actual URL in a database and use an opaque identifier instead) have a reputation for fragility, and periodically result in a massive number of links breaking on various services that use them.