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Ehh, there are legitimate use-cases for a shortening service. One example is SMS messages. We can complain about how antiquated SMS is all day long but it's sti

Ehh, there are legitimate use-cases for a shortening service. One example is SMS messages. We can complain about how antiquated SMS is all day long but it's still one of the best ways to reach people if you don't don't have an app or have a low install base. In SMS length still matters and so taking: https://mydomain.com/path/to/resource?maybe=with&some=query&params=included down to: https://mydomain.com/s/X3s5321 Both makes a difference and hides ugly urls. I agree using a different domain is a danger if you let it lapse but if you use your main domain then I don't see an issue.

leephillips 4y ago
If this is your own domain this is not really URL shortening, but an alternative, and, in your example, parallel URI scheme. And you could just replace your ugly URLs with the shorter versions.
- joshstrange 4y ago
  I guess it really depends on your definition of URL shortening and I'm happy to admit that maybe mine is the one that less used. Shortening 1 = using a shorter/different domain with a shortened path that maps to a longer domain/path Shortening 2 = using the same domain with a shortened path that maps to a longer path. If #2 isn't considering "URL Shortening" then I guess I rest my case as I agree that nothing good comes from #1. Of course #2 is still a problem if you have long-lived urls and you don't maintain their integrity. The way we use them is for short-term one-time/short-term login links so it's even less of an issue, no one is bookmarking them/saving them and for sure they are in reference papers somewhere.
- valenterry 4y ago
  I think pretty much everyone would call that URL shortening though.
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    I wouldn't, personally. That's just providing a shorter direct URL. A URL shortener is a lookup service, turning a fake URL into the actual one.
    - valenterry 4y ago
      How is providing a shorter URL not URL shortening? Just because it's not necessarily having to do a lookup? Wikipedia says: > URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) may be made substantially shorter and still direct to the required page That's what it is.
      - JohnFen 4y ago
        > Just because it's not necessarily having to do a lookup? Yes. You aren't shortening a URL, you are serving a web page that has a short URL. I realize this is pedantic, but the relevance is that we're talking about URL shortening services, which this is not using. I don't mind short URLs much (although I greatly appreciate it if the URL gives me some hint of the content it's pointing at, even if that makes it longer). URL shortening services, however, come with additional problems that lead me to the opinion that they're unacceptable.
JohnFen 4y ago
I use SMS heavily and people often send me URLs. I would hate them being shortened ones there just as much as in any other context, for all the same reasons.
Salgat 4y ago
Of course anything that's ephemeral doesn't apply, since it's going to quickly become a broken link anyways.

leephillips 4y ago

If this is your own domain this is not really URL shortening, but an alternative, and, in your example, parallel URI scheme. And you could just replace your ugly URLs with the shorter versions.

joshstrange 4y ago
I guess it really depends on your definition of URL shortening and I'm happy to admit that maybe mine is the one that less used. Shortening 1 = using a shorter/different domain with a shortened path that maps to a longer domain/path Shortening 2 = using the same domain with a shortened path that maps to a longer path. If #2 isn't considering "URL Shortening" then I guess I rest my case as I agree that nothing good comes from #1. Of course #2 is still a problem if you have long-lived urls and you don't maintain their integrity. The way we use them is for short-term one-time/short-term login links so it's even less of an issue, no one is bookmarking them/saving them and for sure they are in reference papers somewhere.
valenterry 4y ago
I think pretty much everyone would call that URL shortening though.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  I wouldn't, personally. That's just providing a shorter direct URL. A URL shortener is a lookup service, turning a fake URL into the actual one.
  - valenterry 4y ago
    How is providing a shorter URL not URL shortening? Just because it's not necessarily having to do a lookup? Wikipedia says: > URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) may be made substantially shorter and still direct to the required page That's what it is.
    - JohnFen 4y ago
      > Just because it's not necessarily having to do a lookup? Yes. You aren't shortening a URL, you are serving a web page that has a short URL. I realize this is pedantic, but the relevance is that we're talking about URL shortening services, which this is not using. I don't mind short URLs much (although I greatly appreciate it if the URL gives me some hint of the content it's pointing at, even if that makes it longer). URL shortening services, however, come with additional problems that lead me to the opinion that they're unacceptable.

JohnFen 4y ago

I use SMS heavily and people often send me URLs. I would hate them being shortened ones there just as much as in any other context, for all the same reasons.

Salgat 4y ago

Of course anything that's ephemeral doesn't apply, since it's going to quickly become a broken link anyways.