cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/31187638
Earlier today I came across a Reddit comment with a link to an Instagram post. The link had
?igsh=at the end.When I clicked on the link, I got this popup. It had a name and profile photo that was different from that of the post being shared.
Join Firstname Lastname on Instagram
See photos, videos, and more from Firstname Lastname.
[ Open Instagram ]
not now
I avoid link trackers. However, I did not realize it was this bad.
To my knowledge, TikTok does the same thing and lists the name of the person that shared the link. Assuming this increases engagement, any website could enable such a feature, even on old links that you shared in the past.
You should manually remove any trackers before sharing, or use an app for it.
Latest versions of Firefox offer to copy and paste URL without trackers. I am not sure how it compares to specialized tools.
How do I use this feature? I’m a Firefox user since quantum and had no idea this was a thing.
Just right click a link, it’s the option directly under copy link.
Never knew it, very neat!
Apparently it doesn’t work with YouTube. That’s an elephant sized hole.
Google pays them a lot of money. Are you surprised?
SHOCKED! /s
I’d rather not attribute to malice what is more easily explained by incompetence.