When Facebook’s Vanity URL landrush kicked off nearly two weeks ago, over 500,000 people registered their new names in a matter of 15 minutes. Over the following weekend, nearly 6 million users staked their claims. The most desirable names, like ‘Jason’ or ‘Mike’, were snapped up in a matter of seconds (if they weren’t already registered by a Facebook employee before the landrush even began). Needless to say, a lot of people were left in the dust, forced to settle for something other than the vanity URL they’d been dreaming of for weeks.
Well, if you’re a member of the unlucky masses, here’s your chance to get the name you’ve always wanted. Sort of.
Developer Alex Gonzalez of Branch Interactive has put together an application that will allow you to to generate a Facebook application in your name, giving you the URL apps.facebook.com/NAME. So instead of Facebook.com/jasonkincaid, I would be apps.Facebook.com/jasonkincaid. Sure, it has the four extra letters designating it as a Facebook application, but it’s hardly an eyesore.
Gonzalez’s application, which is called Personal URL, builds a basic secondary profile that can link to your online presences, including your main Facebook profile. At this point the options are very sparse, but if the application becomes popular Gonzalez plans to introduce more features.
Installing the application forces you to jump through a few hoops (the process is similar to the custom Quiz apps that keep popping up all over Facebook). First, you’ll have to install the Facebook Developer App and create a new application. Then you’ll have to copy and paste your API Key and Secret Key into the Personal URL app. This is all spelled out pretty clearly in the directions, but it’s not exactly user friendly.
So should you do it? The URL may be easy on the eyes, but it could also easily confuse anyone who tried to recall it from memory since normal vanity names don’t have the preceding ‘apps’ in front of their Facebook URL. There’s also a good chance Facebook is going to kill off the application entirely, and it may not be SEO friendly. Still, at least it’s a decent consolation prize for those that missed out on the great vanity landrush of ’09.