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/. You’ll also see a notice on your home page with instructions for obtaining your username at that time.

I remember reading the above update on Facebook last week. My immediate thoughts at the time were “it’s about time“. I mean what’s so “social” about a social networking site if you can’t easily identify people by their names- the very same thing by which we are all distinguished from other people or things.

I mean creating a profile on any Social Network, be it Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 or whatever, basically amounts to having your “personal” space, and of course people should and by all means must be able to identify you by that.

Anyway, someone at Facebook apparently started thinking along those lines, so we can now have our very own “personal destination, or home, on the Web” (at least as far as Fb is concerned that is).

UPDATE on Saturday, June 13: Username selection is now live at http://www.facebook.com/username/. Remember, choosing a username is optional and will give you a distinct Web address for your profile. It will not change the name that appears on your profile, in search or elsewhere on the site.

I’ve just picked up mine at facebook.com/rollinsorlu. The idea of having a custom (vanity) URL really helps the entire social networking agenda, as it allows for the creation of a URL that is much easier to remember and share with others. I mean imagine trying to tell  someone “oh, you can find my profile at facebook.com/profile.php?id=xxxxxx”

The feature is also available for page administrators, the down side of course being that “Your Facebook Page must meet two requirements: it must be live on Facebook prior to the May 31, 2009 cut-off date and have a minimum 1,000 fans as of May 31, 2009.” Facebook however says that the 1,000 fan restriction will be lifted on June 28, which of course is welcome news for companies, brands, and admins with far fewer fans.

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Copyright Infringements

The gold rush which has resulted from Facebook’s new feature has left many scrambling to register their preferred usernames, but of course anyone can (literally) register anything they liked, meaning there could be copyright infringement issues. Facebook has however provided a solution to this though, by making available a “Notice of Intellectual Property Infringement (Non-Copyright Claim)” to assist anyone who wishes to report that someone’s username infringes their rights.

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More in the pipes »»

Facebook have begun testing a new version of their search system. According to the Facebook blog, users will be able to see up-to-the-minute results from friends and the Facebook Pages of which they are fans, and also people who have “chosen to make their profile and content available to everyone”.

The new Facebook Search will also enable you discover what blogs and news sources your friends are following, and see what they are saying about issues related to your search. Testing is however limited to a “small group”— just a fraction of a percent of the people on Facebook.

According to a post on the Facebook blog yesterday;

… Those of you in the test group will see new layouts for search results that will continue to include people’s profiles, Facebook Pages, groups and applications, and some entirely new Search features. With the test, you will be able to search your News Feed for the most recent status updates, photos, links, videos and notes being shared by your friends and the Facebook Pages of which you’re a fan. You will also be able to search for status updates, posted links and notes in Search from people who have chosen to make their profile and content available to everyoneI’m interested in the latest updates on the aftermath of the Iranian election. By entering the term “Iran” in the “Search” field in the upper-right corner of any page on Facebook, I will see up-to-the-minute results from my friends and the Facebook Pages of which I’m a fan, not to mention people who have chosen to make their profile and content available to everyone. I’m able to discover what blogs and news sources my friends are following, what my friends are saying about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, and how people in general are reacting to the election results.

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