There’s been a big change in social networking this month, as Facebook now provides the option to do something pretty much every other social networking site in the world has been doing for a long time – give yourself a username! This will undoubtedly lead to a shift in the way that Facebook and its users operate, as it’s now a good deal simpler to link directly to your page or profile.

Those friend-hungry folks out there can now aggressively up their friend count with ease. It’s all being done with security and copyright in mind, however, as Facebook are attempting to ensure no abuse of their system and usernames are set in stone once they’ve been chosen. Pick wisely, as LadyGaGaLover2009 might not sound so cool in 6 months!

It’s now much easier to increase your businesses exposure, too, with a tidier and more memorable web address providing an easier path for Facebook users (and Google searches) to reach your content and brand. Whereas prior to this launch the address of your company’s Facebook page would’ve been a garbled mess of letters and numbers (unless you had a nice large ad-spend, in which case vanity URL’s were specially available), it’ll now be the more business-card friendly facebook.com/yourcompanynamehere. The myriad of benefits this offers are obvious, and it’s another big step towards making Facebook the unifying outlet for social networking and brand exposure. Expect to see Facebook URLs springing up on billboards, the side of busses, film trailers and magazines over the next few months.

On a somewhat similar note, Twitter now offer ‘Verified Accounts’, in essence ensuring users that the tweets they are reading are the real deal, from the horses mouth, and adding another level of confidence and security to those 140 characters.