[boo_radley]

"I think link shorteners improve user experience and they're not 'breaking the web' whatever that means"

1. If you can't be bothered to read his objection, it's hard for me to read your rebuttal.

2. regarding "chatting or on a social site, a shortened link may improve the readability of someone's comment." The readability would be better enhanced by allowing users to use hyperlinked text, rather than preventing them from resorting to pasting plain text URLs that get linked automagically.

[dsschnau]

I did give credence that a link shortening service may go away leaving some broken links, but the underlying web page is still there. And I agree that hyperlinks are better, but that isn't possible in all cases.