Facebook vanity URLs won’t matter soon enough
Everyone is screaming about you needing to camp on Facebook tonight so that you can grab your very own vanity URL because this will somehow change your life, business, game, whatever.
Step back though for a second and think about it. Facebook is currently very important in the small world of social media marketing, social networking, etc. And, having a vanity URL will make it easier to share your profile with your contacts as a vanity URL is much shorter than what they currently allow.
But, the key here is that Facebook is only CURRENTLY important in social media. Think about it… since the early 90s, no social network or web 2.0 technology has stuck around for more than 5 years. Friendster? Where is it now? MySpace? That was a short time on top. AIM? Does anyone even use that anymore? Second Life? Just a ripple in sea of networking technologies ultimately.
And Facebook? It will go the same way, so yes, get your own vanity URL, but don’t believe the hype that this will really change much in terms of what you do online or in terms of how much success you will have. It is, after all, only a Facebook URL, and while a vanity URL is easy to use, your key to success in social media is in the community you build, not in your vanity URL.
Am I wrong? Am I right?
Tags: AIM, facebook, Fan Page, Friendster, myspace, Vanity URLs, web 2.0
June 12th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Eric, obviously most things we do on the web won’t be critical to our success 30 years down the road, but in my opinion you have to capitalize on the trends, especially in marketing.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:24 am
@Derek For sure. It’s taking advantage of all of these momentary opportunities that often gives individuals and businesses the upper hand on their competition. Just seems like there’s been a lot of hype, but it seems like there has been a lot of hype about everything social media lately… Google Wave, Twitter, vanity URLs, etc. Just important to keep it all in perspective, I suppose.
Thanks for commenting, Derek.
June 12th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I would think it matters for a facebook “page” or “application” much more than it would for an individual.
June 12th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Excellent observations and you have a great way of expressing things. Thanks for this.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Yes and no.
Here’s a random analogy for you, because I used to fly hang gliders. Hope it makes sense.
With no engine, hang glider pilots rely on thermals – bubbles of rising warm air – in order to stay aloft. Each thermal is ephemeral, it disappears, but by catching one, and riding it up before searching out the next one, pilots string together a series of thermals to travel hundreds of miles cross country.
The popularity of Facebook might dissipate, but finding your way to the top of that platform puts you in a better position for catching the next one. On the other hand, missing one thermal isn’t the end of the flight. Just keep your eyes open for the next one.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I guess that I see a company having a better ability to spread word about its vanity URL than would an individual, but given that many more individuals are using social networking to look for jobs, I think they would feel more pressure to secure their digital space… I don’t know, probably so different for each person.
Thanks for commenting, Bill.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Awesome analogy, Theresa. I don’t think it could be put any better.
Thanks for the comment
June 12th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
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June 12th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Just get a .tel domain and aggregate all of your contact information and social media links in one place.
Facebook could make a killing selling these directly.
June 13th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Hi, very nice post. I have been wonder’n bout this issue,so thanks for posting
June 15th, 2009 at 10:37 am
It may not matter down the road, but:
-today, I neglected to get mine soon enough, hence it was taken by someone else…
-today, someone may go to that vanity URL thinking its me but its not…
-tomorrow, if we're still around, someone may go to that vanity URL thinking its me and its not…
Would that I had jumped on that vanity URL when I had the chance!
June 15th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I agree the vanity url's aren't a big deal the hype was a great marketing push to get facebook users and people on the edge of joining to focus their attention onto fb.
Although I am interested to see how facebook plays out. I think it is going to be around a lot longer than the 5 year life cycle. Teaming with Microsoft was a pretty good move that paid off well. At E3 Microsoft's X-Box announced twitter and facebook integration. That is going to extend its life a bit more. The only upcoming challenger I can see is Google Wave sucking a way user's attention span. But having it open source means integration with facebook will be much easier and companies will create API's for both. Part of the eyeball shifting will come down to each social site's ability to create buzz (Like facebook just did).
June 18th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
You are completely correct Sir! I cannot tell you how many social networking I have seen coming through Angels that are wanting to tear Facebook from its #1 spot. If we can learn anything from Twitter it is this: Social networking is still a viable business (if they can make it profitable); however, the faster one can get to greatness, the faster it can also be taken away.
Facebook URL's are useful, but as you point out- It is the quality social network you create that will create value, not the tools that get you there.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
You are completely correct Sir! I cannot tell you how many social networking I have seen coming through Angels that are wanting to tear Facebook from its #1 spot. If we can learn anything from Twitter it is this: Social networking is still a viable business (if they can make it profitable); however, the faster one can get to greatness, the faster it can also be taken away.
Facebook URL's are useful, but as you point out- It is the quality social network you create that will create value, not the tools that get you there.
June 3rd, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Great points. So, where should someone “plant their feet” if they should? What about blogs? Will they stay? I'd think so, but then again who knows?
June 3rd, 2010 at 3:29 pm
I think that any channel you can control is your safest bet for sticking around. Facebook is a great, rich content channel, but if it decided to shutter tomorrow, most of the time we focused on it would end up being a waste. I'm not saying it's not valuable…just that it's not as important as the hype around vanity URLs made it seem. With a blog, it's only up to our own abilities to keep them going.