How Do I Change My Username And Business Name On Facebook And Twitter?
By Ashley on January 31, 2017 in Social Media
It’s Easier Than You Think
Updating information on your Twitter and Facebook page is generally pretty easy. However, there are some elements that require approval from each network or may impact your page in ways you might not realize. Before you make the switch, familiarize yourself first with the basics.
Changing your Facebook Page Name
Changing your business name on your Facebook page usually requires approval from Facebook before it can take effect. Your claim may be denied if the proposed new name is not close enough to the current name or violates any of their page guidelines. If your Facebook page has not been used and has very few likes, the easiest thing may be to create a new page with the new name. However, this is never recommended for active pages with a large amount of likes and engagement.
For more information on how to change your page name, check out Facebook’s support section.
Facebook Usernames
The unique identifier in your Facebook page url (the ending of the url as indicated by xyz: facebook.com/xyz) is called your username. If your url includes your page name with a long string of numbers, you do not have a unique username associated with your page. See examples below:
- Facebook page with a Unique Username: www.facebook.com/paperstreet
- Example of the format for a Facebook page without a unique username: www.facebook.com/The-Law-Firm-Name-123456789112345/
Things to Consider When Changing Your Facebook Username
- To select a username you can follow these steps.
- Keep in mind not all pages are eligible to create a username, especially if the page is fairly new with very little activity.
- If you want to change your username, you may only be given one chance to change it.
- The desired username may not be used by anyone else, so keep in mind you can’t always get the one you want.
- Facebook has specific guidelines on what can be in your username which you can see here.
- If you change your username, your old Facebook url will not redirect to your new url. Meaning, anywhere the old Facebook page url is linked will no longer work.
Changing your Twitter Profile Name
Changing your Twitter profile name is very easy. It does not require approval and the updated name will show immediately after changing it. However, keep in mind you are limited to 20 characters (this includes spaces). You simply just click “edit profile” while on your Twitter profile and update the name as needed.
Twitter Username
The unique identifier in your Twitter profile url (the ending of the url as indicated by xyz: twitter.com/xyz) is called your username. It is also sometimes referred to as a Twitter handle. This also appears under your name on Twitter and is how other accounts tag and mention you. For example, our Twitter username is @paperstreet and our url is twitter.com/paperstreet. However, keep in mind you are limited to 15 characters.
Things to Consider When Changing Your Twitter Username
- Twitter usernames are very easy to change within the settings of your account
- Usernames are limited to 15 characters
- Usernames can only use letters, numbers, and underscores. That means no spaces or symbols allowed.
- If you change your username, your old Twitter url will not redirect to your new url. Meaning, anywhere the old Twitter url is linked will no longer work.
- There is a slight workaround for to help with this issue. Some people create a new account with a dummy username, edit the old Twitter username to a dummy one as well, go back to the new account and change it to the old username, and finally change the old account to the desired new username. It sounds confusing, but it basically allows them to own both usernames and put a note saying they have changed the account to something else. There is always a chance Twitter could remove the old one since you are technically not using it anymore, so keep this in mind.
- You can read more about handles from Twitter here
Further Learning
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