Twitter Breaks Links

Why does twitter shorten the link on posts where link doesn't need to be shortened?



I used bit.ly to make a decriptive link, and twitter changed it from http://bit.ly/BlameDrewDatehMusic to http://bit.ly/BlameDrewDate....

The link still works when you are on twitter, but when someone copies the link manually and then retweets it, the link breaks.

Details:

Twitter changed the link on my post, from this:

Blame Drew's Cancer: The Music Video by Paul Dateh http://bit.ly/BlameDrewDatehMusic #blamedrewscancer

To this:

Blame Drew's Cancer: The Music Video by Paul Dateh http://bit.ly/BlameDrewDate... #blamedrewscancer

On twitter, the link works, until someone retweets it, by copying and pasting the tweet into a new post, then it breaks.

Broken link:

melissapierce RT @stevegarfield: Blame Drew's Cancer: The Music Video by Paul Dateh http://bit.ly/BlameDrewDate.. #blamedrewscancer i know amazing ppl

I blame Drews Cancer

Update:

Example #2:

Original post:

stevegarfield#blamedrewscancer Music Video http://bit.ly/BlameDrewDatehMusic

Twitter shortened:

stevegarfield#blamedrewscancer Music Video http://bit.ly/BlameDrewDate...

Note: This shortend link works at twitter.com, but will break if someone manually copies and pastes it to retweet it.

Example #3:
Original post:

stevegarfield#blamedrewscancer Music Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHDiurJY3lg

Twitter shortened:

stevegarfield#blamedrewscancer Music Video http://bit.ly/nSFfW

I don't understand why twitter feels the need to shorten that YouTube link. and note the shortened URL, nSFfW. Weird.

I know twitter is working on incorporating the retweet function. I hope they makes things better and not worse. I also hope that when retweeting, we'll be able to add editorial comments to retweets.

Blame Drew's Cancer: The Music Video by Paul Dateh

Paul Dateh has written an original song, and recorded and performed it on YouTube, to support my friend Drew Olanoff in his fight against cancer.



Paul describes the video:

Please help my friend @drew beat the crap out of cancer. use tag #BlameDrewsCancer on twitter and join the fight. get all the details at http://blamedrewscancer.com

Get the mp3 of this song for free at http://pauldateh.bandcamp.com/track/blame-drews-cancer

Drew watched the video for the first time on a plane and tweeted:

Just watched @pauldateh's "blame drew's cancer" music video. I cried on the plane. The lady next to me asked to move. Nice.

I just happily paid $25 for @pauldateh's Blame Drew's Cancer Song. You can download a version for free, or pay more to get a better quality. It's freemium.


Suppport Cancer research at Livestrong.

Update:
Paul Dateh donated the $25 I gave him to Livestrong.