This has been brewing for quite a few days now, but when you next log in to facebook you’ll see that it’s official: We’re going to get usernames:
So what does this mean?
Well, vanity – yes – you could now be facebook.com/fitguy or facebook.com/princess or any other nauseatingly myspace-esque usernames.
But the real benefit in my mind lies in hijacking facebook’s google ranking – just think; you could soon be facebook.com/webdesignuk or facebook.com/weddingphotographer and google will rank your facebook profile highly in the search results. Set your public profile up so that casual surfers get a little bio about your business and an invitation to “friend me to discuss your requirements” and you’ve got a powerful way to reach new customers in a secure, comfortable setting.
Google ranks facebook.com very highly in search results, and if you can snap up a few decent keywords then all of a sudden your profile goes from a great social tool to being a great business tool.
So that’s my take on it. Sure it’d be great to be facebook.com/howard, but I think I’d rather be facebook.com/PHP-developer-uk :0)
So at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday, June 13, go to facebook.com/usernames and stake out your territory – but think carefully, at the moment the official word is that there’ll be no way to change your name.
#1 by Del on June 10, 2009 - 3:20 AM
It’s going to be a big moment, and many marketer’s will abuse the privilege of having a username.
I really hope i can get the one i want ;-)
I’m going to create a new account and use up “smitholi” just to annoy Ollie ;-)
#2 by Trung on June 11, 2009 - 9:50 AM
I will get the best-web-developer one hehe
#3 by Mike on June 12, 2009 - 8:46 PM
Thanks for the info!
I got my name as the username.
You don’t need 1,000 Fans to get your own username.
Your Facebook account must be registered before June 9 as the only criteria.
Mike
#4 by SHady on November 16, 2009 - 10:58 PM
how about Obama sucks ….that should be a good one-
#5 by udin gomes on December 31, 2009 - 11:22 AM
hahahahahahaha