Facebook recently announced they will soon allow users to choose a username for their account. More significant is the fact that Facebook will begin using your username in your profile page URL. This essentially allows you to create a custom URL for your Facebook profile page.
A message posted on Facebook explains, “Starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday, June 13, you’ll be able to choose a username on a first-come, first-serve basis for your profile and the Facebook Pages that you administer by visiting www.facebook.com/username/.”
The reason for the change is to “make it easier for people to find and connect with you.”
Currently Facebook uses a randomly assigned id number for profile page URLs. In my case, my profile page URL is:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692946276
Now, my Facebook profile URL can look like this
http://www.facebook.com/jeffklein or http://www.facebook.com/jeff.klein
Custom URLs are already supported by sites such as Twitter, delicious, and MySpace so this move by Facebook is not unexpected. That said, Facebook is the largest social networking site and this move represents a significant opportunity from a personal branding standpoint. I strongly recommend you claim your username on June 13th when the new prorgam opens up.
You can learn more on the Facebook blog.
