I read Shortened Link Cleanup Time! a few days ago, and since then have been on the lookout for shortened links. However, occasionally I find a shortened link in a comment, and comments, unlike questions and answers, are not editable.
What should I do with these comments? Should I flag them under "Other" and include an explanation, should I contact the commenter and request that they re-post their comment but with the expanded link, or should I inform a moderator?
To make sure we are on the same page, we are taking about links shortened through external services such as goo.gl, non just links shortened through markdown that reveal the original on mouse-over.
Flagging as "Other" with the description explaining it's a shortened link is good; However if it was a up-voted comment that indicates that it was useful at one time, so it may be good to re-post the original link, If the Original user is no longer available .
Also commenting to the user that posted it is a good idea, and is probably the best route with new comments.
Comments are editable by moderators (even after any amount of time). I don't know if moderators want to edit a lot of comments to fix obfuscated links, but it is possible.
In a situation where the comment provides very important information and has a serious problem (like it says "X is the case" instead "X is not the case"), you can custom flag the comment and request moderator editing.
I'd want to hear moderators' viewpoint on this before asking flagging large numbers of comments to request editing of obfuscated links. Another thing to consider is that, with the link expanded, the comment might become too long.
I don't think that is necessary to flag a comment just because it have a shortened link.
If you discover that the site where the link point is fraudulent, has malicious code or malicious software, or is containing SPAM, then you should flag it explaining the case.
