Facebook Users Rush to Grab Good Vanity URLs

On Saturday at exactly 12:01 EST, Facebook users rushed to get their vanity URL from the social network. Previously, user accounts on the popular networking site were only identified by random numbers.


In the first three minutes alone, more than 200,000 users were registered on the network. More than 10 minutes later, 500,000 users registered new URLs on the social network. The mad rush on Friday night to secure the best possible URL resulted in 3,000,000 registered URLs by Saturday afternoon.

When Facebook announced that it was offering URLs to Facebook users, it reminded people to think hard about the choosing a good username.

“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.”

Still there seems to be more than a handful who decided not to take Facebook’s advice seriously. The following day, this story came out regarding the silliest names that were registered on Facebook during the URL registration rush. One URL was long and didn’t seem to have any logic behind it: http://www.facebook.com/alksjfalskjfoiwefalsdlasfaslleseouaiwejndlsknjkdfs. And what is the most enviable username on the list? http://www.facebook.com/default.aspx .

Facebook’s move to offer customized URL is offering better opportunities for individuals and companies to use the network for its branding efforts. Now, instead of random numbers, users can use their trade names and brands for the URL to help deliver a more consistent marketing and branding message to the public. Vanity URLs also helps people find your profile without the need to do searches. In March, Facebook already allowed the registry of vanity URLs but they were limited to those who knew someone within Facebook or had a business relationship with the company.
This is the first time the company is allowing the public to register their vanity URLs. This is why so many people rushed to get their URLs registered on the site. While there are many who were able to grab their desired URL (including some pretty silly ones) there were also many disappointed users who got beat to their desired usernames by someone else.