diff --git a/public/javascripts/app/helpers/text_formatter.js b/public/javascripts/app/helpers/text_formatter.js
index d977414f3..51bc72b4a 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/app/helpers/text_formatter.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/app/helpers/text_formatter.js
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@
 
   textFormatter.markdownify = function markdownify(text){
     var converter = Markdown.getSanitizingConverter();
+    
+    converter.hooks.chain("postConversion", function (text) {
+      return text.replace(/(\"(?:(?:http|https):\/\/)?[a-zA-Z0-9\-\.]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,3}(?:\/\S*)?\")(\>)/g, '$1 target="_blank">')
+    });
+
     return converter.makeHtml(text)
   };
 
diff --git a/spec/javascripts/app/helpers/text_formatter_spec.js b/spec/javascripts/app/helpers/text_formatter_spec.js
index 6d408c130..375130147 100644
--- a/spec/javascripts/app/helpers/text_formatter_spec.js
+++ b/spec/javascripts/app/helpers/text_formatter_spec.js
@@ -40,7 +40,9 @@ describe("app.helpers.textFormatter", function(){
       var wrapper = $("<div>").html(formattedText);
 
       _.each(links, function(link) {
-        expect(wrapper.find("a[href='" + link + "']").text()).toContain(link)
+        var linkElement = wrapper.find("a[href='" + link + "']");
+        expect(linkElement.text()).toContain(link);
+        expect(linkElement.attr("target")).toContain("_blank");
       })
     })
   })