If you are prone to tweeting directly from Twitter.com instead of using a Twitter client or app, you're probably used to manually trimming your links using a third-party link shortener. Well, no more of that! The site will now take care of the task automatically.
The micro-blogging service will now make sure that any links you post using its site are trimmed down to a slender 19 characters or less using Twitter's official t.co link shortener:
Just paste a link of any length into the Tweet box on Twitter.com. After you’ve composed your Tweet and you hit the “Tweet” button, we’ll shorten the link.
The feature doesn't appear to be live on all Twitter accounts just yet — so we haven't been able to try it out ourselves — but Twitter's got an example of how the whole process will look:
It's worth noting that if you do prefer to use a third-party link shortener for some reason, you can still continue to do so without any trouble.
Related stories:
- France bans Facebook and Twitter from TV, radio
- Twitter searches now include photos and videos
- Twitter used by 13 percent of online Americans
Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there while coping with a Twitter obsession. Sam Spratt — the guy who made the awesome Twitter bird illustration above — on the other hand, is all about Facebook and Tumblr.
