diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/shareupdates/server/ShareUpdateServiceImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/shareupdates/server/ShareUpdateServiceImpl.java
index 51b4fb2..e580bfb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/shareupdates/server/ShareUpdateServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/shareupdates/server/ShareUpdateServiceImpl.java
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ import org.gcube.portlets.user.shareupdates.shared.UserSettings;
 import org.gcube.portlets.widgets.pickitem.shared.ItemBean;
 import org.gcube.social_networking.socialutillibrary.MessageParser;
 import org.gcube.social_networking.socialutillibrary.Utils;
+import org.gcube.socialnetworking.token.URLToken;
 import org.gcube.vomanagement.usermanagement.GroupManager;
 import org.gcube.vomanagement.usermanagement.RoleManager;
 import org.gcube.vomanagement.usermanagement.UserManager;
@@ -730,10 +731,12 @@ public class ShareUpdateServiceImpl extends RemoteServiceServlet implements	Shar
 		LinkPreview toReturn = null;
 		_log.info("to check " + linkToCheck);
 		//look for a url in text
-		linkToCheck = Utils.extractURL(linkToCheck);
-		if (linkToCheck == null)
+		URL url = URLToken.isURL(linkToCheck);
+		if (url == null) {
 			return null; //no url
-
+		}
+		linkToCheck = url.toString();
+		
 		String[] schemes = {"http","https"};
 		UrlValidator urlValidator = new UrlValidator(schemes);
 		if (! urlValidator.isValid(linkToCheck)) {