@NatureMC
To be fair, a few people do use them as a cheaper alternative to domain names, I've seen some activists use them on real life posters for example.
But, yeah, that doesn't apply to vast majority of shortener links!
Mastodon is the best way to keep up with what's happening.
Follow anyone across the fediverse and see it all in chronological order. No algorithms, ads, or clickbait in sight.