Good question! TinyURL is a free service to make posting long URLs easier. For instance, have you ever looked at the homepage URL for the Office of Special Education? The full address is: http://cmsweb1.loudoun.k12.va.us/50990419143321/blank/browse.asp?383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=67732&50990419143321Nav=|1400|1759|&NodeID=1759&50990419143321Nav=|2982|&NodeID=2982.
WOW…that’s 175 characters! Imagine the difficulty in trying to copy that URL link into the body of an e-mail or word processing document or even simply giving a friend the address by word of mouth. By using a service like TinyURL you can create an alternative path of entry to any URL (in this case an alternative entry to the long URL for the Office of Special Education). To create a TinyURL, simply copy and paste any URL into the text field on the TinyURL webpage and click “Make TinyURL” (see image below). Voila…your TinyURL is then created! The TinyURL that was created for the special education URL above is http://tinyurl.com/6ysewn. Much smaller at only 25 characters! Try it out for yourself. You’ll find managing and working with longer URLs much easier by using a service like this.
