This article was published on April 7, 2016

Facebook might’ve just made the inbox of ‘yourusername’ hell


Facebook might’ve just made the inbox of ‘yourusername’ hell

Facebook today announced a new feature launch for Messenger that lets users use a QR code or unique URL for direct messaging. This is something that brands are going to love, as it gives fans a quick way to start a conversation with them with one QR scan or a link click.

To get a custom URL to your Messenger profile, Facebook illustrated by showing off the generic link of “m.me/yourusername.” Make sense, except “yourusername” is an actual user ID, and that dude just became Facebook’s minor celebrity.

With 1.55 billion users, the chance of finding a generic username to illustrate its point was probably difficult for Facebook, though a quick URL test shows that at the time of publish, “yourFBusername” is still an unclaimed ID.

Screen Shot 2016-04-07 at 10.22.23 AM
But we’ll see how long that lasts.

We’ve reached out to the owner of the Facebook username “yourusername,” Jamie Wilson of Toronto, for comment.

He probably won’t see it unless he sifts through his Others inbox, but when he does, boy, is he in for some unsolicited messages. Mr. Wilson is either going to have a long, confusing day, or he’ll be making lots of new friends this afternoon. Let’s hope he’s a friendly type.

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