Wordpress.com Launches WP.me – URL Shortener

If you’re a blogger with WordPress.com, you’ll be happy to learn that you now have the capability to shorten your URL’s within WordPress.com with the new WP.me service. You can see an example of a WP.me link below.

Original
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/shorten/

Shortend Version
http://wp.me/sf2B5-shorten

Will you use the new WP.me URL shortener? Tell us.

What’s so special about WP.me, besides the link being 70% shorter? Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, updated the WordPress blog where he sheds some light on some key features:

WP.me is the only two-letter .me domain in the world.
Every blog and post on WordPress.com has a WP.me URL now.
These are all exposed in the <head> using rel=shortlink.
It doesn’t work for any URL in the world, just WP.com-hosted ones.
The links are permanent, they will work as long as WordPress.com is around.
WP.me is spam-free, because we are constantly monitoring and removing spam from WP.com.

Matt goes on to say:

"I think a few of these points are worth following up on. While URL shorteners have had some incredible usage tied to the growth (and constraints) of Twitter, I question their sustainability as a business. This point was underscored a few days ago when a popular one, tr.im, announced they were going to shut down at the end of the year.

Their story had a happy ending in that someone came in and saved them, but it was hard not to think of what would have happened if all their links stopped redirecting one day: part of the web would go dark. I also worry that because shorteners are essentially open proxies of HTTP they’ll be exploited by spammers and malware distributors to the point where businesses, anti-phishing, and anti-virus services will be forced to block them.”

With popular micro-blogging site Twitter gaining so much popularity this year, will people still find time for WordPress? It’s unclear at this point, but by the looks of things, some people are already using WP.me.

Do you think WordPress has lost some bloggers to Twitter? Let us know what you think.

There are 8 Comments. Add Yours.

0 0
alfon
August 19, 2009 at 4:06 pm

i never heard this way before about wordpress short url..

0 0
Sam Johnston
August 19, 2009 at 7:43 am

The real news here is the adoption of the rel=shortlink standard which puts it on the radar of the client developers and in turn feeds further adoption – that is the chicken and egg problem has likely been solved.

Sam

0 0
collection agencies
August 17, 2009 at 12:05 pm

Thats some great information for people looking for shorter links. I personally like having my links larger but I still think this is some great info. Im glad you mentioned the part about the links being permanent.

0 0
Tracker Mo
August 17, 2009 at 11:45 am

Well, you asked what I think, so here goes.

I think it’s very unprofessional to write a story ABOUT a site, but not include the primary URL FOR the site. That’s what I think.

Mo

- 0 0
  Tracker Mo
  August 17, 2009 at 11:50 am
  
  Oh, I see… so, it’s only for those with a WP blog… nice of you to mention that. That does anyone without a WP blog worlds of good.
  
  Mo
  
  - 0 0
    Jeremy Muncy
    August 17, 2009 at 12:10 pm
    
    Hello again Mo,
    
    If you’ll notice the first sentence of the article states…
    
    “If you’re a blogger with WordPress.com, you’ll be happy to learn that you now have the capability to shorten your URL’s within WordPress.com…”
    
    All I can say is sorry for the confusion.
    
    –
    Jeremy Muncy
    Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/jmuncy”>@jmuncy
    
    - 0 0
      Toni Anicic
      August 17, 2009 at 3:11 pm
      
      Jeremy,
      
      It was actually pretty clear in the article that wp.me is for wordpress.com users only, don’t worry.
      
      On topic:
      
      I like the idea, however, I’m not using wordpress.com, all my blogs are self hosted.
      
- 0 0
  Jeremy Muncy
  August 17, 2009 at 12:07 pm
  
  Hello Mo,
  
  The reason I didn’t link to WP.me is that it just re-directs you to WordPress.com.
  
  The source for this article was the official WordPress blog… which also doesn’t link to WP.me.
  
  But for those of you who want the link… here goes – WP.me
  
  –
  Jeremy Muncy
  Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/jmuncy”>@jmuncy