Yesterday Facebook announced that it will be offering vanity URLs starting on Saturday. For the uninitiated this means that you can choose part of the Web address for your Facebook profile.
Previously Facebook assigned each user a unique identification number that trailed on the end of your profile’s URL. This means that users get to customize their profile a bit further to express their identity and make it easier to help people find them.
The problem is that using your true identity was one of the core principles behind Facebook. You have the ability to control whether someone can see your profile on Facebook, making it a more authentic representation of you and your social sphere.
The authenticity of Facebook is part of its beauty. You can find old friends just by typing in their names and reaching out to say hello. If the lines start to blur and users start to hide behind usernames, that openness and link to our actual lives is broken.
It’s an especially tough decision for me, as I happen to liberally apply my username about the Internet on various sites and for my own personal blog. However the reverence for connecting with friends naturally through Facebook still gives me pause before rushing in to register the old standby.
It’s possible that I’m the only one wrestling with this question of identity and authenticity in my online life, but I doubt it. Anyone else having a hard time deciding whether to register their name versus their username or whether they should even care?
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I'm Dave and I like to share news about gadgets, gear, careers and design for a mobile world.
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