Social Media Bootcamp

On Friday at midnight (Eastern time), Facebook began offering “vanity URLs.” So you could move from the nonsense code URL to your name. It might look something like this:

According to Mashable, more than 200,000 usernames were claimed in the first 20 minutes. (I have to admit that I was one of those.) In just two hours, more than 3 million of the custom URLs had been claimed.

For individual profiles, there is no restriction. Just visit www.facebook.com/username. Chances are if you have a common name, you might have to settle. There is a point where you might just want to stick with the standard URL instead of ending up with a goofy vanity name that doesn’t really say who you are. Also remember that your choice is permanent.

Fan pages can also choose vanity URLs, but only when the organization has more than 1,000 fans. Crossing my fingers that the company name is still available when we get to 1,000.

If you have a facebook profile, it’s certainly worth a look  at whether your name, or some reasonable variation thereof, is still available.