Facebook Usernames; do you have yours yet?

Facebook announced earlier this week that from Saturday, June 13th @ 05:01am (GMT) users will be able to register a username, or what has been written across the internet as a ‘Facebook Vanity URL’.

The Facebook Usernames allow users to create and share a more memorable URL with friends, family and co-workers unlike the previous auto-assigned ID numbers.

before.

and after..

The usernames and vanity URLs will also allow further flexibility in searching, filtering through to the popular search engines and giving greater coverage to those more active users.

I was of course awake at 5am on Saturday to ensure I was not passed up the opportunity of the Zen Elements username / url on Facebook. There was even a handy count down!

Once activated, a screen is presented with some suggested usernames along with an option for a custom username. There are some restrictions to creating a custom username, where they must be at least five characters in length and include only alphanumeric characters (“a-z” “A-Z” “0-9″) or a full stop (”.”).

Are you a keen Facebook user? Then you might want to take a quick moment and pop over to http://www.facebook.com/username/ and pick out yours!

Already have your Facebook Vanity URL? Then shout it out below in a comment and enter our little Facebook Vanity URL Pool!

Alex | @ZenElements

Further Reading

• Facebook announce usernames (via the Facebook blog)
• 15 Silliest Facebook Vanity URLs (via Mashable)
• Facebook Vanity URL Destroys Friendship (via the Digg fp)
• Hands Down, The Best Facebook Vanity URL (via TechCrunch)