Facebook Changes Policy on Username Change
You may be stuck with your birth name, but at least now you can change your Facebook username. When the social network announced in June that it would let users select custom names for vanity URLs, they were warned to choose carefully because the name would be theirs for good -- no changes or transfers allowed.
Once someone had confirmed their name choice on Facebook, it could not be altered even to correct a misspelling. But it appears the company has softened its stance, giving users an opportunity to change their usernames.
ReadWriteWeb reported Thursday that Facebook is offering a new option on the account settings page under "username" that allows people to make the switch -- but only once. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the added option, since "some users might not have chosen the name they want permanently."
Why would anyone need to change their username already? Inside Facebook points to examples of people who chose names without consideration of future job prospects or took a friend's name as a practical joke.
Others who selected trademarked names have already had them revoked by Facebook after being notified by rights holders. (Facebook reserves the right to remove or reclaim any username at any time for any reason.) In any case, the only potential downside to getting another crack at a Facebook name is that pickings have gotten slimmer. As Mashable points out, millions of usernames were taken just within the first few days of their availability -- leaving a smaller pool to draw from, especially after brands with less than 1,000 fans were also allowed to get vanity URLs in late June.
Recent Online Media Daily Articles
-
Yahoo Search Experiments With New Look May 23, 6:30 p.m.
Yahoo Search has been experimenting with colors, features and layouts, as the company tries to determine ... -
Path Seeks Dismissal Of Wireless-Spam Case May 23, 5:07 p.m.
Mobile social network Path is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the ... -
Amazon Appstore Goes Global May 23, 4:59 p.m.
Amazon may have been late to the app store game, but that hasn’t stopped it from ... -
Data Is Springboard For Product Development May 23, 4:44 p.m.
iProspect named Ben Wood to global president Thursday; he's tasked with growing the company's network and ... -
Vice, Twitter Partner For Mobile Show May 23, 2:14 p.m.
Simultaneously expanding its video and social strategy, Vice on Thursday unveiled #dailyvice -- a daily show ... -
MediaVest Database Charts Brand Experience, Social Media Impact May 23, 12:11 p.m.
After a year-long research effort, Publicis Groupe’s MediaVest has created a massive database designed to help ... -
Discovery Launches TestTube.com, Ups Digital Video Involvement May 23, 11:27 a.m.
Discovery Communications is looking to get into digital video platforms in a big way -- launching ... -
Network Advertising Initiative Proposes New Mobile Privacy Rules May 22, 9:03 p.m.
Moving forward with its plan to issue mobile privacy rules, the self-regulatory group Network Advertising Initiative ... -
Entertainment, Travel Bet On Mobile Banners May 22, 4:16 p.m.
Banner ads have long been the whipping boy of online advertising, and the same is now ... -
Marketers Should Tailor Specific Pitches To Tablet, Smartphone May 22, 2:51 p.m.
Don’t lump tablets in with mobile. That’s the takeaway of a new Forrester study looking at ...
Be the first to comment on "Facebook Changes Policy on Username Change"
Leave a Comment