ow.ly

URL shortening services are everywhere these days. If you use a social media website — and, let’s face it, many of the uber-websites out there are social media sites (in one way or another) — then you’ll likely be encountering a URL shortening service of theirs. But sometimes you just want to shorten a URL and drop it into Twitter, and for that purpose, ow.ly operates admirably. The service is owned by HootSuite, an awesome tool for managing your use of Twitter, and if you use HootSuite, then you’ll certainly be using ow.ly to shorten your links. What’s more, you can use ow.ly to track how other people are using the links you share. Links shared with ow.ly appear with the ow.ly toolbar, which makes it easy for users to retweet and share your links.