Facebook announced today that starting this Saturday, they will begin offering vanity URLs – custom web addresses – for all of their users.
As it is right now, Facebook offers these links to select businesses and entities (like the New York Times). Soon, pages* and profiles will be eligible to receive them on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Why would this be useful to you?
Just like every other social media site, a vanity URL would be an easy-to-guess, short and direct path t your Facebook page. As it is now, you are merely a long series of numbers according to Facebook. If someone goes to search for you on Facebook, they may or may not find the right person with your name. If you have facebook.com/your.name, it’ll be easy to find and simple for you to link it in your emails, put it on business cards, etc.
Because it is the Internet, there will inevitably be a mad dash for these vanity URLs. If you have a common name or you want to be sure to get your company’s name first, you’d better hustle. They are available at http://facebook.com/username on midnight Saturday.
* Mashable notes that pages will not be able to get a vanity url unless they have at least 1,000 fans and have to have been created before May 30. Better get to recruiting new fans (I know I will).
