Facebook Tip: How to Get Your Facebook Vanity URL

Facebook has now made it possible to create a customized link for your profile - affectionately known around the tech world as a vanity URL.

Right now, your Facebook URL appears something like this:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123456789

After you modify your URL (I'll show you how), you'll have a much more clean-looking Facebook address, such as:

http://www.facebook.com/(username)

Twitter and LinkedIn have had this capability for quite some time. On those two services, you simply go to your account settings to modify it. But on Facebook, the capability had not been made available – till now.

Just log onto Facebook and then point your browser to www.facebook.com/username/.

According to a blog post by Facebook, you will be prompted to choose a username. Facebook may suggest some options (see screen shot below), or you can create your own if it's still available.

Your username for the vanity URL must be at least five characters long and be all alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9).

A word of caution: Don't go for anything funny or cute. Play it straight. According to Facebook, "Once it's been selected, you won't be able to change or transfer it."

Have fun.