200m members ready for Facebook name grab
Asher MosesJune 10, 2009 - 3:28PM
Get ready for the great Facebook land grab - at 2pm on Saturday, the social networking site will allow members to register their own user names to make it easier for others to find their pages.
The new system - already offered by MySpace and Twitter - will give people a simple, unique address, such as http://www.facebook.com/joebloggs, instead of the current system whereby profile pages have a URL with a randomly assigned number such as "www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123456789".
But Facebook designer Blaise DiPersia said the user names would be handed out on a "first-come, first-serve basis", a move that is sure to spark a land rush as the site's 200 million members race to register their favourite names first.
The social networking site has created a special page for people to go to to choose their user names on the day.
"This way people will have an easy-to-remember way to find you," DiPersia wrote on a blog post.
"We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook user name in the future."
But only existing members who had signed up before the usernames announcement will be eligible on Saturday in order to "prevent people from creating new accounts just to take advantage of reserving a username".
New Facebook users will be able to claim their username on June 28.
Unlike MySpace, Facebook has a strict rule forcing people to use their real names when signing up to the site, and has even banned people with unusual names after suspecting they were fake.
But, for the user names, it appears any name is fine as long as it is at least five alphanumeric characters. Facebook said it "prevents certain words from being included in usernames", which most likely refers to swear words.
Having a unique username will be particularly useful for those with common names such as "John Smith", as these people are often difficult to find using the search feature on the Facebook site since there are hundreds of John Smith profiles to sift through.
Facebook users should think carefully about the username they choose, as, once it's been selected, they will not be able to change or transfer it, DiPersia said. This is probably to prevent people from selling popular usernames on sites such as eBay.
Members should also be aware that Facebook can remove or reclaim "any username at any time for any reason".
Asher MosesJune 10, 2009 - 3:28PM
Get ready for the great Facebook land grab - at 2pm on Saturday, the social networking site will allow members to register their own user names to make it easier for others to find their pages.
The new system - already offered by MySpace and Twitter - will give people a simple, unique address, such as http://www.facebook.com/joebloggs, instead of the current system whereby profile pages have a URL with a randomly assigned number such as "www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123456789".
But Facebook designer Blaise DiPersia said the user names would be handed out on a "first-come, first-serve basis", a move that is sure to spark a land rush as the site's 200 million members race to register their favourite names first.
The social networking site has created a special page for people to go to to choose their user names on the day.
"This way people will have an easy-to-remember way to find you," DiPersia wrote on a blog post.
"We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook user name in the future."
But only existing members who had signed up before the usernames announcement will be eligible on Saturday in order to "prevent people from creating new accounts just to take advantage of reserving a username".
New Facebook users will be able to claim their username on June 28.
Unlike MySpace, Facebook has a strict rule forcing people to use their real names when signing up to the site, and has even banned people with unusual names after suspecting they were fake.
But, for the user names, it appears any name is fine as long as it is at least five alphanumeric characters. Facebook said it "prevents certain words from being included in usernames", which most likely refers to swear words.
Having a unique username will be particularly useful for those with common names such as "John Smith", as these people are often difficult to find using the search feature on the Facebook site since there are hundreds of John Smith profiles to sift through.
Facebook users should think carefully about the username they choose, as, once it's been selected, they will not be able to change or transfer it, DiPersia said. This is probably to prevent people from selling popular usernames on sites such as eBay.
Members should also be aware that Facebook can remove or reclaim "any username at any time for any reason".
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