Is It Old?: The easy way to check if that cool web link has done the rounds

How many times have you come across a website that you think nobody has seen before, decided to share it with your friends and family, only to receive comments like “OLD!” or “Saw that years ago” denting your pride as a result?

It’s happened to the best of us, especially here at The Next Web where we are always on the hunt for new and interesting stories, photos and information. Luckily, there is a wonderfully simple new website called ‘Is It Old?’ that will scan each link you think its cool and unique and tell you if your friends, co-workers and family may have possibly shared it before you.

It works by telling you how many times that particular website or link has been shared on Twitter and when the first tweet related to that website was posted, displaying a humorous little phrase to warn you off sharing – if it’s been around since dial-up:

Or if it’s new:

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

This isn’t to say that Is It Old? will be able to spare all of your website-sharing blushes, after all it only checks to see if the link has been shared on Twitter. However, Twitter (like Facebook) can quite often be the source of a cool new website or interesting link, so it will help your determine how fresh it really is.