On June 13, 2009, Facebook began allowing its users to claim usernames (also known as “vanity URLs”) so that they could direct friends to their profiles more easily (instead of www.facebook.com/people/Joe-Blow/4815162342, profile URLs could now be www.facebook.com/joeblow). On most other social networking sites, vanity URLs are the default (Twitter users, for example, would be aghast if they suddenly had to tell people to follow them @/people/Joe-Blow/4815162342) but before June 13, Facebook users could only direct friends to find them by looking them up.

These usernames were made available for Pages too, but there was a catch: Only the Pages that could boast 1,000+ fans were eligible. That number eventually jumped down to 100, and now Facebook says all Pages with at least 25 fans are eligible. Once you’ve reached that magic number, all you have to do to claim your username is:

• Visit http://www.facebook.com/username/.
  *You may be prompted to enter a cell phone number so Facebook can verify your account via text message.
• Click on “Set a Username for your Pages.”
  
• Select your Page from the dropdown and name away.
  *Usernames must be at least 5 characters long and can only be changed one time after they are set, so choose wisely!

So what’s the big fuss over usernames? Aren’t Pages assigned the same long URLs as profiles? Couldn’t you just use that to tell people about your Page? Well, yes and sort of. If you want to use the long URL to create text and  links, no one will know the difference. But what if you want to put your Facebook address on your business card (and you should want to)? The cumbersome /pages/My-Biz/001100101 is certainly less user-friendly than /MyBiz. What if you are talking to a friend about your business and you want to inform him about your Facebook Page? Would you rather try to remember to email him the URL the next time you are at your computer, or just say, “You should check out our Facebook Page at facebook.com/MyBiz!”? What if you're sponsoring a bake sale or a half-marathon team? Rather than packaging your cakes and your runners in boxes and t-shirts marked with your name and an easy-to-miss Facebook logo, you can instead send them out sporting the easy-to-remember Facebook.com/MyBiz URL. Simply put, a Facebook Page with a vanity URL is easier to advertise than a Facebook Page without.

If you’ve reached the magic fan number, take a few seconds today to claim your username before someone else takes the one you want. It might not be the secret to instant Facebook superstardom, but it’ll definitely make it easier for you to promote, promote, promote.