As you might already know Facebook today started rolling out Vanity URLs. What this means is that instead of handing out a lengthy, non-speaking URL including your Profile ID, you can now secure yourself your very own, unique http://www.facebook.com/[yourname] address.
According to Mashable within the first three minutes 200.000 users registered. 15 minutes later, half a million unique names where grabbed.
To secure yours, simply visit http://www.facebook.com/username.
Facebook has taken some proactive counter-measures to avoid the blocking of hundreds of popular names by single users, as we’ve experienced it with domain names. Your unique username needs to be at minimum five characters long. You’ve got to be a Facebook member for a while. Freshly registered users can’t claim a name today.
Running a Facebook Page with more than 1000 fans? You can go ahead and secure a Vanity URL for that one, too.
When choosing your address be careful. Once set, it’s read-only. You cannot change it. You cannot delete it.
Forget about putting a dot in your name
And by the way: The system ignores a dot (or even multiple dots) in your username. As an example, I’ve registered “ralfrottmann”, however, this one works, too: http://www.facebook.com/ralf.rottmann and even this one: http://www.facebook.com/ra.l.f.rott.mann. So don’t worry about getting a dotted name!
Let us know your Vanity URLs or awesome ones, you’ve stumbled upon.
I got my ID
I thought I would feel different
But it’s just an ID
What happens now?
Changing a username is not possible. Here’s an excerpt of Facebook’s FAQ:
Can I edit my username, or transfer it to another account?
Once you have claimed a username by clicking the “Confirm” button after checking for a username’s availability, it is not possible to edit it, or to transfer your username to a different account on Facebook. Additionally, when an account is removed from the site, its username will not be made available. Facebook does this for security reasons.
You should make sure it is something you like and that it’s appropriate for friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else who might use it to find you.
What if I misspell my username?
People have to click on the “Confirm” button to finalize their selection. After that time, it cannot be changed.
Hope this clarifies things.
-Ralf
Tip: change your Facebook language to English. In the Dutch version the change username box isn’t displayed.
wow… i just did mine.. thanks…
I created my account yesterday.. and I received this error message:
“Ineligible Account
At this time only users who have registered for Facebook before 9 de Junho de 2009 are eligible to obtain a username. All other users will be allowed to register a username in the near future. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
They should enable this fuction permanently and for everyone! L*mers. Myspace is so much cooler.