Shortened URLs and SEO

As you post information on various social networking sites, you'll notice that your referring URL links have been shortened. One of the more common shorteners is TinyURL.com.Have you ever wondered if this generated URL effects your SEO efforts? It doesn't contain the entire link, right? Well, actually, if they're properly generated, they're really 301 redirects.

Matt Cutts, of Google, gives a brief explanation regarding this very topic.