Personalized Link on Facebook
Last week facebook announced that on Friday, June 12th at 9:01pm PST all facebook users can choose a personalized link. I told Stephen that we have to be on the computer when the clock strikes 9pm so we can grab our names before someone else will take it. If there are over 200 million facebook users, the chances are going to be pretty big that someone will want to have the same user name as you.
We arrived at home at 8:45pm and I was waiting by the computer with anticipation, ready to choose Enci, the single name I like to go by. As soon as the clock hit 9:01pm, I clicked on the button that said to choose a username and I typed in Enci. And here is where my excitement went right into frustration. The user name had to be at least 5 characters long. Bummer! I ended up choosing my married name that is also my facebook profile name enci.box. But I was not happy!
It is so important for me to maintain my brand, and facebook screwed it up already when I signed up and now it continues screwing it up by requesting a certain number of characters. For artists it is a very complicated issue, more then one would realize.
As artists, we need to maintain our identity and we need to strengthen the brand that we built on years ago. Through Facebook, I lost that identity and I lost my brand, I feel because everybody calls me Enci Box, my full married name, not my artist name. I have to tell directors and producers all the time, that I only use one name, when I’m performing in their film or in their theater production. I will have to make sure that the credit is correct in newspapers, reviews, end credits, any footage, etc. It is a constant hassle now.
So, even though my facebook profile link is http://facebook.com/enci.box, I still only want to be credited everywhere as Enci. One name only! Thank you for listening!
June 16, 2009
Posted in: brand, facebook, name
5 Responses
I totally understand. I would prefer to be just deb. Small d small b.
Good luck with the one-name fight — I still have near-daily issues with that –
Somewhat relatedly: You know those phone directories that tell you to punch in the 1st 3 letters of the person’s last name? Of course this isn’t helpful if you’re going by 1 name — but it’s also frustrating for your friends if your last name only has 2 letters. You’re lucky you’re not Enci Bo
I’m DADO! not dado gyure. It’s been that way since the ninth grade. Thanks Enci.
You are right on point. Cher, Elvis, Prince, Target, these are all important single names whether it be for artists or business/commercial, branding is a critical component of success-standing out from the crowd.
Siel, you are funny! You were smart when you chose both names on facebook as Siel. I’m afraid to change mine to Enci Enci because they might close my account. Don’t know what to do about that. Grrr!
Dado and deb, you will always be Dado and deb to me!
Leave a Reply