Vanity URLs Coming to Facebook
The team behind the free-access and very popular social networking site Facebook has announced to the world that it plans to introduce a vanity URL feature that would make it easier for others to find you online. What this means is that instead of being assigned a long string of numbers for your Facebook profile URL, you will be assigned an URL that reflects your online persona.
“From the beginning of Facebook, people have used their real names to share and connect with the people they know. This authenticity helps to create a trusted environment because you know the identity of the people and things on Facebook. The one place, though, where your identity wasn't reflected was in the Web address for your profile or the Facebook Pages you administer. The URL was just a randomly assigned number like "id=592952074." That soon will change,” explains Facebook’s Blaise DiPersia.
The new option will be rolled out as of June the 13th, starting with 12:01 EDT. That date and that specific time is very important because Facebook plans to offer vanity URLs on a first come, first served basis. So if you really want to have the Facebook profile URL of your dreams, make sure to activate it come Saturday. Keep in mind that you can choose just one vanity URL for your profile and one for each Facebook Page you administer. You are also advised to be very careful when picking you vanity URL because once you select it, you will not be allowed to change or transfer it.
If you think you have found a way to secure a certain vanity URL by setting up a new account right now, then you are out of luck. Facebook has announced that Facebook Pages accounts set up after May 31st and Facebook profiles set up as of June 9th may not get the option to select the username that will appear in the URL.
“When your friends, family members or co-workers visit your profile or Pages on Facebook, they will be able to enter your username as part of the URL in their browser. This way people will have an easy-to-remember way to find you. We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook username in the future. Your new Facebook URL is like your personal destination, or home, on the Web. People can enter a Facebook username as a search term on Facebook or a popular search engine like Google, for example, which will make it much easier for people to find friends with common names. Your username will have the same privacy setting as your profile name in Search, and you can always edit your search privacy settings,” added Blaise DiPersia.
This news article is reminiscent of Google, who also introduced vanity URLs to Google Profiles back in April (details here).
“From the beginning of Facebook, people have used their real names to share and connect with the people they know. This authenticity helps to create a trusted environment because you know the identity of the people and things on Facebook. The one place, though, where your identity wasn't reflected was in the Web address for your profile or the Facebook Pages you administer. The URL was just a randomly assigned number like "id=592952074." That soon will change,” explains Facebook’s Blaise DiPersia.
The new option will be rolled out as of June the 13th, starting with 12:01 EDT. That date and that specific time is very important because Facebook plans to offer vanity URLs on a first come, first served basis. So if you really want to have the Facebook profile URL of your dreams, make sure to activate it come Saturday. Keep in mind that you can choose just one vanity URL for your profile and one for each Facebook Page you administer. You are also advised to be very careful when picking you vanity URL because once you select it, you will not be allowed to change or transfer it.
If you think you have found a way to secure a certain vanity URL by setting up a new account right now, then you are out of luck. Facebook has announced that Facebook Pages accounts set up after May 31st and Facebook profiles set up as of June 9th may not get the option to select the username that will appear in the URL.
“When your friends, family members or co-workers visit your profile or Pages on Facebook, they will be able to enter your username as part of the URL in their browser. This way people will have an easy-to-remember way to find you. We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook username in the future. Your new Facebook URL is like your personal destination, or home, on the Web. People can enter a Facebook username as a search term on Facebook or a popular search engine like Google, for example, which will make it much easier for people to find friends with common names. Your username will have the same privacy setting as your profile name in Search, and you can always edit your search privacy settings,” added Blaise DiPersia.
This news article is reminiscent of Google, who also introduced vanity URLs to Google Profiles back in April (details here).
