Someone sends a link, comments on your Facebook post, or you see an interesting link somewhere on the interwebs, but it’s that annoying bit.ly or is.gd link. Is it absolutely safe to click, or could it infect your computer with viruses?

Fortunately, there is more than one tool out there that can tell us where that link really points to. The simplest of them is Where Does This Link Go? Plug in a short URL, and it spits out its destination. Simple as that!

A more sophisticated tool is LongURL, which not only gives you the destination URL, but some information from that website based on meta-data. Whichever tool you use, it’s ultimately up to YOU to decide whether or not to click on that link.

Published by Geoffrey Liu

A software engineer by trade and a classical musician at heart. Currently a software engineer at Groupon getting into iOS mobile development. Recently graduated from the University of Washington, with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Music. Web development has been my passion for many years. I am also greatly interested in UI/UX design, teaching, cooking, biking, and collecting posters.

2 thoughts on “Stay safe! Know where that short-URL goes!”

  1. Hi there, You have done an incredible job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this site.

    Reply ↓

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