Facebook Offers A Username Mulligan

Just last month, Facebook announced that they would allow users to choose a custom username, a.k.a. vanity URL, for their Facebook profile. A post on the Facebook blog warned users to:

"Think carefully about the username you choose. Once it’s been selected, you won’t be able to change or transfer it."

Well, that’s not true anymore. You can now change your username, but only once. At the time of this writing there is no official announcement from Facebook about the username change option.

Are you dissatisfied with your initial Facebook username choice? Let us know.

It’s unclear when Facebook added this new option, but we’re sure some Facebookers will appreciate it, as ReadWriteWeb points out. If you wish to change your username, go to the "Settings" tab at the top of your profile and click on "Account Settings". The second option down is "Username", just press "Change" and pick your new username.

Last month, Mashable put together a pretty comical list of the "15 Silliest Facebook Vanity URLs", maybe some of those users would like a mulligan on their initial username choice.

Will you be changing your Facebook username? Tell us.

There are 10 Comments. Add Yours.

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Toy Man
July 26, 2009 at 10:35 pm

Common Sense and not Vanity. A little thought before you rush in to pick a name works well. I will not be changing mine.

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Guest
July 26, 2009 at 12:59 pm

What’s the purpose ???
… Schizophrenia !!!
I already knew Facebook always was and will be for losers. Now it’s even official.

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  Jennifer Lopez
  July 26, 2009 at 9:26 pm
  
  I used facebook for a year, but now i dont like it.
  
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Miss Blogger
July 25, 2009 at 10:28 pm

I am not happy with my facebook URL. This is great.

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George Kao
July 24, 2009 at 11:56 am

Does it matter?

facebook.com/georgekao
facebook.com/george.kao

I know it doesn’t technically matter since both will go to the same place (dashes don’t matter in FB usernames either), but in terms of the one to set, I would imagine the one with the dot is better for SEO?

Does anyone know?

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  Jed
  July 28, 2009 at 12:19 pm
  
  Nope. Facebook UserNames are not case sensitive and periods do not make the vanity URL unique. Periods are the only non-number non-letter character you can use. I don’t believe there is a max number allowed…
  
  For SEO purposes, I would think it’s 6 to one, half a dozen to the other… Having the period in there looks better for me and may have some different benefits besides this. It definitely makes it easier to read and less confusing. With a rather short name and easy first name, it would seem less necessary. However, if you had a more unique first name or a longer last name, having a period would seem mandatory for me.
  
  Hope this helps. I have a lot more info about Facebook UserNames/Vanity URLs on my site. It’s dedicated to the subject and there are some fun lists! You should check it out and if you want some more visibility, join my Facebook Page that’s on the homepage…
  
  http://fbvanityurls.com
  
  Jed
  
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zygella
July 24, 2009 at 6:08 am

That’s nice of Facebook allowing us to change our username once.

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Atlanta Promotional Products
July 24, 2009 at 1:52 am

Oh, cool. Glad that added that. I was worry about getting one and wanting to change it. Now I’ll just get one.

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Abe
July 23, 2009 at 5:10 pm

I’m pretty fond of mine…. Facebook.com/abefroman

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  Jeremy Muncy
  July 23, 2009 at 5:14 pm
  
  As you should be.
  
  –
  Jeremy Muncy
  Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/jmuncy”>@jmuncy