New-look Bit.ly Adds Curation Features

Popular link-shortening service Bit.ly has undergone a redesign that includes the release of a handful of new features heavily focused on curation.

One of these new options is the inclusion of a bookmarking feature called "bitmarks." With bitmarks, users will be able to save and review the links they've shared on Facebook and Twitter, as well as organize them into bundles.

This is essentially a feature the company launched back in 2010, but organizing these bundles is now more collaborative. Any of these bundles can be made private or public. There is now also a network view that allows users to see the links their friends are sharing publicly on Facebook and Twitter.

Other features include the ability to search and find these bookmarks, fast search functionality and enhanced public profiles that offer greater privacy controls for users. There will also be new bookmarklets, an extension for the Chrome browser and Bit.ly's first-ever iPhone application. These will allow users to save and share links from virtually anywhere.

Developers can immediately start using Bit.ly's open API to add bitmarking functionality to their apps.