On many social networks, it’s a common practice to use shortened redirect URLs rather than linking directly to the (often much longer) original URL of a page. This is especially common when character limits are imposed, such as Twitter’s 140 character maximum.

This is a great article with short & quick guidance on how to be safe when utilizing URL shortening services.  They are terrific tools but must certainly be used with caution…

Source: the JoshMeister on Security: How to Preview Shortened URLs (TinyURL, bit.ly, is.gd, and more).