Bit.ly, the popular URL shortening tool, is taking a step beyond basic URL shortening and allowing users to express their feelings about shared links.
The company introduced a new bookmarklet on Wednesday called Bit.ly for Feelings, which offers a set of customized URL shorteners for sharing links. If you really love an article and want the world to know it, you can share it using the luvit.me shortener. If you really disagree with the article but still want to share it, you can use the oppos.es shortener.
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Hilary Mason, the chief scientist at Bit.ly (who is about to leave for a new role), announced the new feature in a post on Twitter on Wednesday, noting that "sometimes you have STRONG FEELINGS about things you share."
In addition to giving casual users a new way to express their opinions while conserving characters, Tim Carmody at The Verge points out that the feature may serve as a useful tool to give sentiment feedback to publishers.
This would be no small feat for Bit.ly. The company recently brought on a new CEO and told Mashable that it is planning to double down on paid tools to help publishers learn more about how their content is shared and consumed.