Comments on: Linkrot on Steroids: The Problems with URL Shorteners http://www.edrants.com/linkrot-on-steroids-the-problems-with-url-shorteners/ a cultural website in ever-shifting standing Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:01:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: The Benefits of Notebooks : Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits http://www.edrants.com/linkrot-on-steroids-the-problems-with-url-shorteners/comment-page-1/#comment-258820 The Benefits of Notebooks : Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:39:02 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12516#comment-258820 [...] We cannot take back a written thought, except by scratching it out or burning it. I wrote about linkrot and the problems with online permanence back in August. And it occurs to me that we may be driven [...] [...] We cannot take back a written thought, except by scratching it out or burning it. I wrote about linkrot and the problems with online permanence back in August. And it occurs to me that we may be driven [...]

]]> By: Strange_Bundle http://www.edrants.com/linkrot-on-steroids-the-problems-with-url-shorteners/comment-page-1/#comment-257122 Strange_Bundle Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:18:08 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12516#comment-257122 doesn't :) stupid plural verbs. doesn’t :) stupid plural verbs.

]]> By: Strange_Bundle http://www.edrants.com/linkrot-on-steroids-the-problems-with-url-shorteners/comment-page-1/#comment-257121 Strange_Bundle Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:17:26 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12516#comment-257121 There's a strong case for backing up just about everything that's communally stored, like Twitter or even web-based email. They are sort of choke points of data, which can be affected by economic catastrophes the likes of which the internet founders assumed would be impossible back when it was a research network. The URL scrunchers have the added bonus of removing our ability to guess at the legitimacy of the page we're about to jump into, as well as their volatility. About the only use I've ever found is for cramming them into a Twitter post, and even then I try to see if I can give enough of a hint without using them, just because I find them distasteful. I read a lot of posts from trusted people, like random celebrities, and they still do the "hey, check this out: tinyurl..." and I'm supposed to go there without knowing where I'm going. Take away twitter and the danger of losing these compressors don't seem like such a big deal... There’s a strong case for backing up just about everything that’s communally stored, like Twitter or even web-based email. They are sort of choke points of data, which can be affected by economic catastrophes the likes of which the internet founders assumed would be impossible back when it was a research network.

The URL scrunchers have the added bonus of removing our ability to guess at the legitimacy of the page we’re about to jump into, as well as their volatility.

About the only use I’ve ever found is for cramming them into a Twitter post, and even then I try to see if I can give enough of a hint without using them, just because I find them distasteful. I read a lot of posts from trusted people, like random celebrities, and they still do the “hey, check this out: tinyurl…” and I’m supposed to go there without knowing where I’m going.

Take away twitter and the danger of losing these compressors don’t seem like such a big deal…

]]> By: Jackson West http://www.edrants.com/linkrot-on-steroids-the-problems-with-url-shorteners/comment-page-1/#comment-257108 Jackson West Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:53:50 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=12516#comment-257108 Joshua Schachter, creator of Delicious, had a well-informed piece about this last year that I recommend on the topic. http://joshua.schachter.org/2009/04/on-url-shorteners.html One thing I generally recommend to sites that promote their work on sites like Twitter is that they use an in-house URL shortening service so they don't get left out in the cold when something goes down. Awe.sm is fairly inexpensive at $99, there are free options as well, and anybody handy with Ruby on Rails probably wouldn't have much trouble whipping one up. Joshua Schachter, creator of Delicious, had a well-informed piece about this last year that I recommend on the topic.

http://joshua.schachter.org/2009/04/on-url-shorteners.html

One thing I generally recommend to sites that promote their work on sites like Twitter is that they use an in-house URL shortening service so they don’t get left out in the cold when something goes down.

Awe.sm is fairly inexpensive at $99, there are free options as well, and anybody handy with Ruby on Rails probably wouldn’t have much trouble whipping one up.

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