What are you doing this Friday night? Going to a bar with friends? Going to a movie? Wrong.
If you’re a real web addict you’ll be sitting at your computer waiting for the clock to strike 12:01 AM Eastern Time. That’s when Facebook’s new vanity URLs are going to go live, and the landrush to get one will begin.
And it’s going to be a landrush because it’s a first-come, first-serve basis, as Facebook writes today. It looks like Facebook will give you a bunch of options based on your real name, but you can also pick your own vanity name.
But there are some rules:
Facebook usernames will be available in basic text forms, and you can only choose a single username for your profile and for each of the Pages that you administer. Your username must be at least five characters in length and only include alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9), or a period or full stop (”.”). While usernames are currently available only for Romanized text, we’re looking at how we might support non-Romanized characters in the future.
We first talked about Facebook getting serious about vanity URLs back in March. It’s been clear for a while that people prefer them rather than having the current profile.php?id=500065899 nonsense. But up until now, only famous public profiles have been able to get one.
Come 12:01 AM on Saturday, they’ll be open to all. So choose wisely when you pick a name — or it could well end up like that tattoo you regret later in your life if you pick something like “mileycyrusfanforever.” Facebook notes this in their own way:
Think carefully about the username you choose. Once it’s been selected, you won’t be able to change or transfer it. If you signed up for a Facebook Page after May 31 or a user profile after today at 3 p.m. EDT, you may not be able to sign up for a username immediately because of steps we’ve taken to prevent abuse or “squatting” on names.
While Facebook had been playing around with the idea of charging users to get these vanity URLs, they will offer them for free. Facebook is also asking people with a trademarked or protected name to email them here to avoid the obvious issues. You can watch the countdown to the feature live here.
Just an observation:
Google total funding: 25m
http://en.wikip...public_offering
Facebook total funding: 714m
http://www.crun...ompany/facebook
Facebook is blindly following failed twitter.
This is a good way to quickly access your friend’s Facebook or your own account. The URL is going to be very useful. I have no idea what you are talking about with “Facebook is blindly following failed Twitter.” Tell me your reasons or examples that Twitter is failing. Ya…ya…ya…an empty talk.
I think u missed yesterday’s twitter flat. And last week’s twitter sheep on TC.
This vanity url is trademark of twitter. Twitter is more about fans than about friends. While fb succeeded to take on twitter with their Fan Pages, to flatten it in May. Now they are making unnecessary change, they announced it before confirmation report of twitter fail was out.. Missed by a whisker – better they postpone it.
Um… MySpace had the vanity URL long before Twitter, so you may want to check your “trademark”.
Myspace has been doing it way before twitter was even thought of
haha, have you ever heard of myspace?
I have not heard of Myspace that was way before my time… Myspace what?
I laughed so hard when I read going to a bar with friends. Please. Nerds don’t go to bars on Friday night. They register facebook urls and post stupidity on crap sites like 4chan and anonboard.com
get ready for people to start auctioning nicknames a la Gmail beta.
“Facebook is blindly following failed twitter.”
Yes!
Facebook only does this to rank higher on search engines for name searches (your name on the URL gets more relevancy than just a number)
So, I better open as many accounts as I can …
Or perhaps you better read closer and see that you won’t be able to get a vanity URL if you open up a bunch now.
Is Facebook going from desperate to pathetic?
If I were FB, i would add this feature and make it appear as if it’s been there all along. Marketing it like this makes them seem obsolete.
Joe is still available, unlike Mark.. Sorry Marks
has to be 5 characters joe
First off if anyone else says “I am going to take facebook.com/techcrunch” I will find you and beat you with a hockey stick!
On a serious note MG, does anyone have any idea how existing pages will convert to these new vanity URL’s?
tough guy huh….
I am going to take facebook.com/techcrunch….
Tough gal?
I aim to obtain /joedawson but I’m sure the other Joe Dawsons have other ideas
joejoe FTW?
true, it sucks to be a Mark now =(
5 characters or more
Okay, well then I will choose Zuckerburg
What is the URL for this? I cannot seem to find info on Facebook.
added it in there Roy. http://www.face...k.com/username/
I assume they’ll block it, but I wonder if someone will try to grab facebook.com/username
Haha, wow, that would be funny if someone actually got it. XD
Is there like a URL I can bookmark to visit at 12:01 and is that EST or PST?
yep: http://www.face...k.com/username/ and it’s 12:01 Eastern
aren’t there going to be a lot of issues with having a free for all like that? what if i get take a companies name or celebrities name? can they sue me or will they just have to pay me money to get the name? Wouldn’t it just make more sense for facebook to have an auction for each name and if there are no bidders then there is a minimum fee of a couple dollars?
Anyone can sew anyone for any reason… logical or not. The real question would you lose if sued.
“Once it’s been selected, you won’t be able to change or transfer it.” No squatting or selling.
The Facebook blog post on the topic clearly lists links to info about trademark issues. You can go fill out a form right now to block anyone from taking your trademarked name (must provide your trademark registration #). There is also a process of filing a complaint if someone grabs your name after the land rush starts.
This is gonna be serious…
To be honest, i don’t care
Jerusalem time: on Saturday, June 13th, at 7:01am
Does anyone know if it works with fan pages as well?
That is a good question and for groups.. there is an app that lets you do something close to this…
yes…read the Facebook blog post.
Is it legal to sell these URLs if you own them?
I am going to try to get Facebook.com/techcrunch
good luck with that. we already have it.
I hope you don’t already have facebook.com/techcrunch because that would mean they are not playing by the rules.
Fact is, we all, meaning “techcrunch visitors” can do a better job reporting than you guys….the fact that we will be able to do it on facebook will be cool.
facebook.com/techcrunch here we come!!
First step to better reporting might be to read better. FTA: “But up until now, only famous public profiles have been able to get one.”
Ummm, Facebook writes the rules so they can play by them however they want.
Seriously? You wrote the url down…you couldnt have just typed it in your browser before you posted that?
It goes to a tech crunch fb page…..sigh….
But facebook.com/techcrunch.sucks is still available, right?
Yikes. This will be a mess. I’d actually prefer if they charged for this just to keep things under control. $2/yr to keep your vanity URL seems fair.
They really need to look into the subscription model. It would also be nice if they offered a high-resolution photo sharing service like Flickr Pro for $20/yr.
You know it is not the general user that makes it a mess. It is businesses and tech nerds. Why should the public at large pay for this? Should we pay for each new email service that comes out so we can have a prime email address. The photo sharing fine but isn’t your asshole tired of getting F%# by companies charging you for every little thing.. charge for vanity URL’s…
Hmmm… that’s a fair point. I understand exactly what you mean. I just think that this is a case where some moderation would be beneficial. Asking about the price of a slice of pizza for a vanity URL would help control distribution and would also be a terrific way for Facebook to get more CC#s on file and up to date for Facebook Payments.
I am going to get facebook.com/techcrunch
again, not all that funny when we already have it.
What about facebook.com/theREALtechcrunch?
broken link above.
Facebook Usernames Coming Soon for Pages: http://www.face..._id=91106469821
which link, all seem to be working for me.
i was trying to respond to @joebrooks up there…
it was something i posted
ah gotcha. thanks.
they are crazy not to charge for this
All the kids are going to get high blood pressure over this…
just not those with inventive names, such as the one I’ll be choosing
what ever floats your boat…
It’s all pointless anyway. Like someone who doesn’t have you as a friend on FB is going to visit your private profile.
And then there are those “My Facebook” links, which won’t even show your vanity URL.
Isn’t everyone going to make a run for these like domain names and then sell them?
Who is going to get tony larussa? And I am sure there is something in the TOS or will be that says you can’t make and sell Facebook profiles. I am also pretty sure that it is still against the law to use a trademarked names.
Are you brave enough to screw with Google? all they have to do is say that is our trademark. Facebook will say yah it is. And your grand plan of getting rich is done.
Well, if I use my real name, I’ll have no problems. If I choose my nickname, I better be ready for the rush.
What’s better?
first.last -or- firstlast
I was wondering the same thing. I want to pick my URL based on the prevalent naming convention, so you don’t have to explain to people that unlike most people you should or should not add that extra period.
I’m tempted to use the period variant though. My name is unique enough that there isn’t going to be anyone else with it for a legitimate conflict. I still set myself a task reminder for Friday for this though
I think judging by the screenshot first.last will become the convention because it’s the first option that they automatically offer to you based on your real name.
I would choose first.last, because it is easier to communicate: “Joseph dot Miller” as opposed to “Joseph Miller, no period.”
However, I’m torn between joseph.miller and joseph.m; one has the advantage of formality, but the other is easier to type and would be preferable if Facebook tried imitating twitter (@joseph.m).
The period is for legibility only. If you register “jasonwagner” and type facebook.com/jason.wagner it will still resolve and vice-versa.
Are you sure about that? From what I can tell, http://www.face....com/techcrunch is different from http://www.face...com/tech.crunch
Is this documented anywhere?
By the way, I’m sure everyone has figured it out now, but he’s right. The period doesn’t matter. I registered first.last and typed in firstlast and they went to the same page.
Man they could have explained that on the FAQ page!
Sorry to anybody I misled. In my defense, tech.crunch didn’t work at the time I commented.
I’m kind of annoyed that I’ve been trying to figure out for the past couple of days what the convention will be, whether it’s first.last or firstlast, and with one hour to go, I still have no idea.
All I know is that it will be the opposite of whatever I pick.
This is not really about vanity URLs – it’s about addressable identity
http://chrissaa...what-you-think/
you are 100% correct. this is a response to twitter id’s everywhere….
Nice indiana jones reference.
Whoops, didn’t see that you spelled out the reference with an included video. Boo!
I was thinking the same thing. The Indiana Jones reference, and picture – greatest possible choice you could have made to go w/ this story. I can picture millions of people turning to dust at their keyboards Sat nite.
I actually think it is infantile and entirely irrelevant. You American’s don’t grasp how dumb you all sound.
Man up Jose and link to your name you wuss. And try letting your hair down to chuckle every now and then.
On the Internet, anybody can be an American.
Um actually Americans are the reason you have internet, facebook and can even voice your dumb opinion online. Plus we probably started the place you learned english and sponsor your soccer team. Using big words doesn’t make you smart Paco. They actually make you sound like an idiot if your trying to hard Pedro.
Of course Cam… nothing important in the world would exist without America.
I’m not Mexican, I live in Sydney Australia. From down here America appears to be the last place anyone wants to be. Did you see the latest Economist list of “most liveable cities”? Australia had three in the top ten. I’ll leave it to interested readers to find the highest-ranked US city. Your superiority complex is a little misplaced.
I do have a lot of experience dealing with Americans, and there are many smart, intelligent, and (believe it or not!) humble individuals to be found in the U.S.
From my experience, these people are the kind least likely to bother with blogs/tweeting/facebooking or whatever new effeminate self-absorbed trend you people get all excited about.
Talk to any American that’s actually travelled a little.. they’ll tell you the same thing. A lot does, and will continue to happen, outside the US, and dare I say.. the web.
Actually, I think that the really “smart, intelligent, and … humble individuals to be found” anywhere in the world (Sydney Australia included) are doing something other than reading and posting to this blog (Jose Fuentes included). I seem to remember a saying about people in glass houses…
Love the image and video clip. Indiana Jones rocks, except for the most recent movie.
I’m going to get http://www.face....com/techcrunch.
HA. HILARIOUS.
Seriously though, nice article MG.
Facebook Name Squatting…
Can’t wait for the eventual court battles.
high school kids galore
It’s interesting if their servers will withstand that.
Does this mean I can squat Coca Cola, Microsoft and then sell it back to them for a $1 million a pop?
Does this mean I can squat Coca Cola, Microsoft and so on and then sell it back to them for $1 million?
It means if you did Microsoft would send you a letter saying cease and desist. Or Facebook would say not going to happen. Probably both. Are people this dumb to think Facebook doesn’t have a way to combat this? Anyone who thinks they are going to be able to take a trademarked name and make money off it.. stick your head in a blender so your DNA isn’t passed on.
How could you “desist” when “Once it’s been selected, you won’t be able to change or transfer it.”
YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO CHANGE ANYTHING, FaceBook will take it from you.
Jesus Chris Almighty can people read or what?
That would be the namesquatter’s problem, not Microsoft’s. If Facebook didn’t get involved (and take the name away from a squatter), the next logical option is a court ordering the squatter to delete his account.
I’m going to get Facebook.com/techcrunch
Crash
I heard about this the other day. I’ll be ready at my Facebook controls at 12:01 a.m. Thanks for the update!
You worried somebody is going to snap up AriHerzog before you?
I’m already waiting to grab some faecbook history !
Not even gonna bother. I think I’d prefer it if they didn’t. They’re gonna be too much like myspace. And that would be the worst.
It’s on like Donkey Kong
Does anybody know if they will be case sensitive?
i.e. would facebook.com/techcrunch be the same as facebook.com/TechCrunch?
Thanks.
It’s just a url, it can’t be case sensitive.
That response was nonsensical. By spec, URIs are (after the domain name) case-sensitive.
Facebook’s URI’s almost certainly won’t be, but your answer was dumb.
Usernames are not case sensitive. See:
http://www.face...name&ref=hq
under “My username was not available.”
I wonder which name I’m going to try to get? Thanks for the update.
Wow, they have pretty draconian rules for Pages – you have to have had 1,000 Fans as of 5/31 or your can’t register a username for your page. We don’t have 1,000 fans for our page (http://www.face...mers/7410070883), but we do own a trademark on the term “Dawdle”. I already put in a TM claim for Dawdle, but I’m not happy that we apparently can’t get our own trademarked username at launch.
That’s totally lame. 1k fans? pfft.
It really sucks.
I have 968 fans…
http://www.face...ype/51728682124
It really shouldn’t be restricted to the minimum of 1,000 fans. Not very startup-friendly…
Kinda ridiculous how you can have a trademark on the term Dawdle anyway. According to Encarta it originated in the mid-17th century. >.>
http://encarta....722/dawdle.html
um – haven’t other SoNet’s been doing this for years? What’s the big hoopla and what has taken FB so long to catch on?
Ex: http://facespace.hi5.com
And they do it for FREE.
The hoopla? Probably because people actually use facebook, unlike hi5.
MySpace does it, too.
I’m glad they aren’t charging, but it will be a HUGE mess. I don’t think the average tech savvy user will screw it up or the average person. It’ll be the same (type of) people that have messed up domain registrations and diluted the usability and credibility of the Internet. How many of these will end up pointing to servers hosting porn, spyware, and the like, will be indexed highly on the search engines, and lead people astray?
If anyone wants a 1 hour reminder before the countdown reach 0, you can just follow @fbname (http://twitter.com/fbname) on Twitter
Provided as a service to the public by a friendly geek
thx
nice idea
I get that this will work for my personal account, but what about getting a vanity url for my business? We have a fan page for our photography company and I’d love to have facebook.com/rootphotography/ Any one see if that’d be possible?
At Least 5 characters?! Do you think a 5 character name is not ok? a lot of people have 5 character or less names, what’s up with that.
I want “mentat” I hope the system lets me register it
whoops just realised that is 6 so no problem, but my brothers name is quite unique and 5 characters long, why shouldn’t he be able to register that
At least 5 means 5 is the minimum…
Nevermind. http://www.face...21&ref=blog
Looks like it’ll automatically appear if you administer any pages. It’ll only be available if your group has more than 1,000 fans, though. Bummer.
Will this also apply to Facebook Fan pages/groups?
Nevermind, see you need 1000 fans
Aiming to secure: http://www.face...antstobetwitter
5 letters minimum? lame … what about people with 3-letters names?
C’mon Timothy, don’t be upset
this:
“if you signed up for a Facebook Page after May 31 or a user profile after today at 3 p.m. EDT, you may not be able to sign up for a username”
strikes me as really pretty stupid. I am The Last Facebook Holdout, and I’ve been on the edge of breaking down and conforming already for a while now. When I heard about the vanity URLs I thought I should probably get on signing up so I could get one that didn’t completely stink. But—well, screw you too, Facebook.
I was The Second To Last Facebook Holdout and only succumbed yesterday, when I heard about vanity urls going live this weekend.
But I was too late as I get the message – “..only users who have registered for Facebook before June 9th, 2009 are eligible to obtain a username..”
Bah.
I’m pretty lucky to have @alex on Twitter, and I obviously want the Facebook.com/alex. I think that they should auction off all the good names, and let people get Facebook.com/alex870787 for free.
My 0.02
I bet milf hunter would be a really popular name!
Why should we have to pay? Contact them in advance offering money or some shit, don’t make me have to pay $500 for a good name instead of having samuel4363683567898756948678tey5677469487684976495674586749. It launches at 5:01AM here, I’ll be there waiting >:(
Um, Facebook says that usernames must be at least five characters long. So “alex” is out…and damn it, so is “erbo,” which I’ve been known by since the late 80’s. :-/
@erbo – others already registered “john”, “paul”, and “mike”. I think 4 letters are allowed