Setting up Custom Usernames and Releasing Select Profile Information
If you're on Facebook for business, as well as for personal use, make sure you are getting the most of their service. I was surprised to find out how many people I knew had not already set up their own personal Facebook username. In an extremely competitive landscape, this is simply another way of getting your name out there. It can also serve as a very basic method of protecting your name, because you are assisting in the control of what shows up when you are searched for online. Because of Facebook's popularity, it should show up on the first page of results on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. (As long as you don't have a common name or celebrity status). If, after a week or so, it isn't showing up in searches, just link to your custom URL from another of your visible online profiles, and that should take care of it.
Setting a username:
1. From your wall, click on the down arrow next to "Home".
2. Click on "Account Settings" from the drop-down menu.
3. Set your username.
If you only wanted a custom username, you can stop here. However, if you want to do a little Internet marketing, and add your profile to Facebook's search and outside search engines, keep going.
What information should be shared?
Regardless of whether you are marketing online (or not), you should check your profile's settings to make sure they are set up the way that you want them.
1. From your wall, click on the "Edit Profile" button in the upper right-hand menu.
2. In the left hand column, notice the list of sections, starting with: "Basic Information", "Profile Picture", etc.
3. Go through every item in the list. Choose the desired privacy setting for each of the sub-types of information, and then move on to the next section.
Check to see how your information displays to others WITHIN FACEBOOK.
1. From your wall, click on the "View As..." button in the upper right-hand menu. In the "This is how your profile looks to you..." box, click on the "public" text link.
2. This is how your profile looks to the public in Facebook. To set how it looks to the outside world and search engines, continue reading.
Check to see how your information displays to others ON THE INTERNET.
1. Log out.
2. Type in: www.facebook.com/[insert your username]
As an example, here is mine: http://www.facebook.com/jonathankolanowski
Different view than expected?
Per Facebook, The information marked as public in your profile MAY show up on your profile page to those that are not logged in (search engines, individuals, etc.) In my case, not everything marked as public is able to be viewed. Perhaps they are using it as bait to get people to sign up, but I find this a little misleading as you are not truly in control of what is made publicly available. I have sent in a support message about it, and will update this post if I receive a reply.
Page not accessible from a web browser when logged out?
If you are like me, you may have to change one more setting in order to make this page publicly available.
1. Log in again.
2. Click on the down arrow.
3. Choose "privacy settings" from the drop-down menu.
4. In the list of displayed options, click on "Edit Settings" in row labeled "Apps & Websites".
5. In the list of displayed options, click on "Edit Settings" button in the row labeled "Personal search".
6. Check the box next to "Enable public search".
From here, you can get a preview of how the page will look to search engines and the public when not logged in. If you do not see all of the information you marked as public, you may want to follow up with an email to support as I did. Perhaps, if enough people want to be able to control what truly goes public, Facebook may change the way that it is currently being done.
