Facebook Will Offer ‘Vanity URLs’ To Users’ Sites
At 12:01 EST Friday, a new cyber landrush will get under way, as the social-networking giant Facebook introduces so-called “vanity URLs” to its popular service. On a first-come, first-served basis, Facebook subscribers will be able to choose customized descriptors for their profiles.
According to Facebook designer Blaise Dispersia, the change will mean that instead of having a Facebook URL ending in a randomly assigned number — such as http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123456789 — users can create a profile link that more clearly indicates their identity — for example, http://www.facebook.com/blaise.dispersia.
“When your friends, family members or coworkers visit your profile or pages on Facebook,” Dispersia said in a recent blog post, “they will be able to enter your username as part of the URL in their browser. This way people will have an easy-to-remember way to find you. We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook username in the future.”
Head Start for Businesses
In an effort to minimize the problem of cybersquatting that has plagued domain-name registrars, Facebook has given businesses the opportunity to preregister trademarked business names to prevent them from being claimed by others.
According to reports, tens of thousands of businesses have already preregistered trademarks. In addition, the company has quietly provided vanity URLs in advance to Facebook employees and “certain celebrities.”
A company that fails to preregister its trademark before Friday’s rush can probably get it back, but will probably need to obtain a court order, which can be both time-consuming and expensive.
Still Chasing Twitter
Facebook’s decision to incorporate vanity URLs into its site is another indication that despite its success, the social-networking site is uneasy about other upstart competitors, particularly the rapidly growing Twitter. Since its inception, Twitter has offered short URL links to profiles that match each user’s screen name, which generally makes it easier to find people on the site…
Related posts: