The New Bitly

This morning I was doing my usual social media postings, and I went to use Bitly to shorten one of my URLs, and I was quite surprised to see that Bitly has completed changed its site.  I have always liked the simple user interface and speed of the old Bitly site.

Bitly has expanding its service beyond URL shortening into something that looks like its own social network.  The update includes a new user interface, new user profile pages, more visibility for what friends are sharing, a new iPhone app, an improved search tool, better privacy controls and more.

The URL shortening almost seems like an afterthought in the new design. Or, more likely, it’s being purposely played down in favor of the focus on content and sharing.

This led me to consider other options, and I found a few.  The first is one that I have known for a while called Tiny URL.  I also discovered that Google has their own URL shortner, big surprise.  I will try them all and choose the one that is the fastest and easiest URL shortener.

While most sites are doing all that they can to copy the simple interface of Google, Bitly has decided to move in a different direction.  Only time will tell if this bet pays off.