Vanity URLs - preserving your hospital brand on Facebook

[Christopher Boyer]

You may have heard that on June 12th, 2009, at midnight (EST), Facebook will be offering the ability to create a "vanity" URLs, to make it easier to promote your Facebook presence to friends/families/followers/etc.

Update: Facebook is rumored to be implementing some restrictions - some Facebook sites state Vanity URLs will only be available to Facebook Pages that have more than 1000 fans, and created before May 31, 2009. Others say they will be available to anyone that created a Facebook site prior to the announcement of Vanity URLs - see comments below for more details.

While it's a great opportunity for hospitals and medical practices to reserve their name in this social network (and extend their branding), there is still a bit of confusion regarding how this is accomplished...and there is a tool to make sure your hospital name is not taken by a competitor!

On Facebook, there are many different ways to engage - by creating a personal profile, establishing a page, or by creating a group. Understanding the differences between the three are not only helpful in establishing your Facebook presence, but also in determining the best way to preserve your brand with a vanity URL.

Facebook profiles:
A "profile" is meant for individuals (not businesses). Profiles allow individuals to share personal information about themselves (age, gender, etc.) and "friend" other Facebook profiles. Through your profile, you can join other networks, post and share information, pictures, etc. When Facebook initially created profiles, their intent was always for individuals to own profiles (and not business entities). Therefore, profiles are more rigorously managed (and hence, why you have to approve every new "friend").

Facebook pages:
A "page" is very similar to a "profile" but is designed for a business presence. Pages are publis by default, and rather than go through the process of "approving new friends," users can start following your business Facebook page without any approval (they simply become "fans" of your page). Every page has to have an administrator (meaning your personal profile will be the administrator of your business page). Fans of your page will be able to send you messages, post on your wall, upload photos, etc.

Facebook groups:
A "group" is very much like "page" in that it helps bring a community of users together. Typically, however, groups have been created on Facebook to rally around a cause or an interest, while pages are more used to promote a brand an identity.

For more on the breakdown between the three entities (and how to get started creating your hospital page on Facebook), I would recommend downloading Hubspot's "How to Use Facebook for Business" PDF.

So what about the Vanity URLs?
Until Friday, Vanity URLs were available in limited release - only for "pages" that had more than 1,000 followers. After this Friday, however all "profiles" and "pages" will have access to reserving their very own "Vanity URL" regardless of the number of friends or followers they have. While Facebook still is implementing some restrictions (see above), every business now has the ability to reserve their URLs.

For a hospital, this is an exciting way of extend your online reputation and branding onto Facebook. To learn more about specifically how to reserve your Vanity URL, be sure to visit the Facebook blog post: "Facebook user names coming soon for pages"...

But since this is a first-come, first-serve process, be sure to use Facebook's tool to prevent others from reserving your hospital name found here: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=username_rights.

For any additional questions or comments, please leave them below, or contact me at www.twitter.com/chrisboyer.

[Warren Allan Johnson]

The 1,000-fan criteria for creating a personalized Page URL is really disappointing. Hopefully this will eventually be lowered or eliminated.

It's worth noting that to restrict usage of your trademark you must include your trademark registration serial number and that FB is really only saying that they will take it under advisement. The exact wording of the automated reply is:

Subject: Re: Preventing the Registration of a Username

Hi,

Thank you for your submission. If valid, we will process your request and contact you when reserved usernames are available for registration.

Thanks,

The Facebook Team

[Jeff Ruprecht]

Is it true that one can already reserve if one has 1000 fans? Everything I read today made it sound like this was the case until further notice.

[Christopher Boyer]

The information that we are getting from Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=91106469821&ref=blog) is a bit confusing. Currently, a Facebook Page with more than 1000 fans can reserve the name.

However,after Friday, any account created before the Vanity URL announcement will be eligible (so says: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=898).

"Eligibility is limited to anyone who joined Facebook before usernames were publicly announced at 3 p.m. (EDT) on June 9, 2009. These users will have the chance to claim usernames at 12:01 a.m. (EDT) on Saturday, June 13, 2009. This limitation is temporary. All users who joined Facebook after the cut-off will be eligible to claim usernames on Sunday, June 28, 2009."

So, it looks like this information is at best, vague...I would say be prepared to claim your Vanity URL (assuming you meet the above mentioned guidelines) this weekend.

[Christopher Boyer]

Mystery solved - anyone can get Vanity URLs: http://mashable.com/2009/06/11/facebook-page-usernames-2/

[Christopher Boyer]

More on the story - according to Facebook: "All Pages created after May 31, 2009 or that had less than 1,000 fans on that day will be eligible to claim usernames on Sunday, June 28, 2009"....so mark your calendars! However, I hope all of you that have Profile pages have reserved your names already. Mine is www.facebook.com/christopher.boyer ... Friend me!