Digg’s toolbar is a game-changing twitter-friendly URL shortener that’s nine characters away.

The problem with many sites that do useful things is that you have to go there to use them. That’s why things like our own TwitterCounter and Twitter Remote (see below right), in being so portable, have also become so popular.

Today, Digg, recognising this trend, has created an instantly activated toolbar that works from any browser, instantly. But it’s not a toolbar you need to download – it’s far cleverer than that – and quite brilliant, in my view.

The key: It’s stunningly simple to invoke – just type ‘digg.com/’ in front of any URl in your browser – for example

digg.com/https://thenextweb.com [click to invoke dig toolbar]

and the Digg toolbar is invoked, along with creating a shortcut URL to whatever content you are viewing. Logging in to Digg through the toolbar keeps you at the same reference point, and you can share via Facebook, Twitter or Email with the option to see a random ‘Dugg’ page – and of course you can Digg content. Or just click [X] and it’s gone. Try it.

This makes Digg nine characters away from any URL – just type ‘digg.com/‘ as a prefix and you’re there. Clever. Easy. Simple. Memorable. Powerful. Well done, Digg.