I’m sure you have noticed tweets with links being posted that are a tinyurl address. Ever wonder why? The reason for this is simple, if you are using Twitter and want to share a link, you only have 140 character to use. A link such as,

http://ericgard.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/just-married-groom-
changes-facebook-relationship-status-at-the-altar-video/

is 116 characters long, that doesnt leave you much room to write anything else in your tweet.

So if you put the above link into tinyurl it spits out,

http://tinyurl.com/yd5dd4h

a condensed link that is only 26 characters long, but basically does the exact same thing. With a shortened link, now you can write a comment about the link or even just include the title to the video. (Click on or copy and paste the two links above to see how they work.)

Here is how its done (thank you ehow.com),

1. Step 1

   Copy the long URL you wish to shorten.

2. Step 2

   Go to TinyURL.com and paste the URL. Enter the long URL under the “Welcome to TinyURL” paragraph.

3. Step 3

   Click “Make TinyURL.” The site will redirect you to a page that shows your original URL as well as the new URL. The new URL is automatically saved to your clipboard. There is no need to copy it again, but saving the page is a good idea for record keeping. The shorter URL will be http://tinyurl.com/ followed by a short series of numbers and letters.

4. Step 4

   Use the preview option. The preview link will take users to the TinyURL site and allow them to see the link referenced before going to that site. Previewing the link helps others know you aren’t sneaking them into an inappropriate web site.

Source: ehow.com

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