Tonight’s the night for Facebook usernames!
June 12, 2009 – 6:39 pm by Griffin Hammond
In just over 4 hours, Facebook will allow users and Page admins to choose unique usernames! What this means, like on many other social media sites, is that users can obtain much more desirable, convenient, easy-to-remember URLs. Gone are the days of http://facebook.com/people/Chad_Brunswick/92219538. Hello http://facebook.com/chadwick! (Or whatever.)
At 12:01 a.m. tonight, Eastern time (assuming no technical issues crop up), head on over to Facebook’s Username page to choose your one-time-only, permanent, non-reversible, non-exchangeable, non-transferable new username for your personal profile and also any Pages (not groups) you’re an admin for.
Hold up, though, before you go off brainstorming; there are some rules:
- Must be at least 5 alphanumeric characters (periods included, but not spaces or underscores as I understand it)
- Your profile must be older than 3 p.m. Eastern, Tuesday, June 9, 2009, to be eligible.
- Your Page must have been created on or before May 31, 2009, and have had at least 1,000 fans by then.
- You can’t use “generic” words, like “flowers” or “pizza.” Who knows how many of these have been blacklisted?
- Many trademarked names will also be blocked, and if you happen to pick one up, it will probably be taken away.
- Don’t make a spelling mistake/typo, because you’ll be stuck with it.
Good luck everyone! When Facebook becomes the sole form of communication in the near future, and we never venture out of our homes, you’ll wish you had the sweetest Facebook username ever!
Click here to choose a username! | Read the original Facebook blog post | Facebook Help Center: Usernames
Below the fold: Why the 1,000-fan rule for Pages is causing frustration.
I assume Facebook is limiting usernames at the moment to popular Pages to help ensure major brands with expensive trademarks and aggressive lawyers get theirs first.
But the dilemma is that these companies are the ones with the least use for Facebook Pages. Pages are ideal for small, local businesses who are looking to expand their consumer base but have no web design ability or resources. A Facebook Page offers an easy and effective way to connect with consumers, while increasing search engine optimization and rank (because Facebook is way more popular than any business’ website). Of course these organizations are clamoring for handy URLs they can slap on a business card, whereas large, established companies have already invested dollars in professional websites, so what’s one more URL to them?
Hopefully Facebook will open up the username option for smaller Pages soon, and not before too many businesses have to change their names.
