While another comment argued otherwise, I would claim that link shortening could be considered worthwhile DUE to the analytic features available, at least from

While another comment argued otherwise, I would claim that link shortening could be considered worthwhile DUE to the analytic features available, at least from the perspective of the poster. That's ultimately what the argument comes down to: perspective. From the perspective of the poster, link shortening allows for a larger dissemination coupled with analytics. From the perspective of the web, link shortening creates a problem for the future (as they begin to break).