I’m not going to even begin to pretend that I fully understand exactly how Twitter will implement its new default URL shortener, all I know is that it’s coming sometime this summer.

…all links shared on Twitter.com or third-party apps will be wrapped with a t.co URL. A really long link such as http://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose  /dp/0446563048 might be wrapped as http://t.co/DRo0trj for display on SMS, but it could be displayed to web or application users asamazon.com/Delivering- or as the whole URL or page title. Ultimately, we want to display links in a way that removes the obscurity of shortened link and lets you know where a link will take you.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one that’s confused. The Twitter API folks are busy answering questions from developers and addressing any kind of confusion, such as:

Of course, there will be those that will whine about this move–people like to do that–but Twitter’s doing it, whether you like it or not.

Those that will complain?

Existing URL shorteners, app developers, and conspiracy theorists–”don’t you see, Twitter’s harvesting your shared links in order to take over the world!”

Those that will love it?

Anyone that uses the Twitter web interface–now you get a built-in link shortener–and anyone concerned about phishing scams–Twitter will be able to better monitor suspicious links.

Thoughts?