What numbers am I talking about? In the first three minutes, about 200,000 usernames were registered. In fifteen minutes, users had picked out half a million custom URLs. Within one hour, over 1 million Facebook usernames had been snapped up.
Today we bring you the most recent numbers, as well as exclusive video and photos direct from Facebook.
Facebook Usernames: The Numbers
As we reported yesterday, Facebook was worried that traffic would be so high that Facebook could overload. The numbers we have definitely demonstrate why:
- It took 3 minutes to reach 200,000 usernames registered. That's an astounding 1111+ registered per second during the first minutes of the feature release.
- After 15 minutes, the number of usernames jumped to 500,000. The pace slowed down, but there is no laughing at 555.5 usernames or so taken per second. How many other websites could handle that type of load?
- By 10:01 PM PT, a full hour after release, around one million custom URLs had been claimed. That's an average of 278 usernames per second or so.
- Where do Facebook usernames stand now? Well, as of 2:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT, over 3 million usernames have been taken. That's 3,000,000 custom URLs during a Friday night.
While we can't report to you the number of simultaneous users online during the Facebook username rush, we can tell you that the traffic was many magnitudes higher than the normal load. It was a sight to see the numbers skyrocket. Traffic has now settled down some, although it's still elevated.
Exclusive Video and Images from Facebook HQ
The launch of usernames was a big project for the Facebook team. While they normally only have a few people around for code pushes, Facebook set up an entire war room to accommodate this launch. We were lucky enough to record some video via a Flip HD and take some photos of the team at work and at play.
While you can find some of these photos and videos in our article Facebook Team Celebrates and Explains the Usernames Launch, we've decided to include it, and a lot more, below. Enjoy:
1. The Facebook team watches the usernames countdown as it almost reaches launch time:
2. Facebook's Jared Morgenstern and Guy Rom explain the complexities of Facebook usernames, why they ditched the auction system, and their "last resort" if the site had overloaded (you may have to turn up the volume to hear them):
3. The Facebook team is grabbing a bite to eat 20 minutes before the launch:
4. Facebook engineers Chris Putnam and Marcel Laverdet are making some, uh, beautiful music. Seriously, this clip is amazing to behold. The handless instrument you see Chris playing is called a theremin:
5. Another picture of the Facebook war room just as things are getting underway:
6. There's seriously a speed chess table in the middle of engineering:
7. The Facebook team celebrates their successful launch (with success = Facebook not going down like a boulder off a cliff):
8. Yes, they have a "GuitarTar Hero" room. How does that make any sense?!?
9. At the entrance to Facebook HQ, there is a giant Facebook logo with the signatures of members of the Facebook team. I wonder how many there are. I'd also like to note that the map of the offices posted in the main lobby is upside-down and could cause wooziness to the untrained individual:
10. One last photo of the War Room:
Thank you, Facebook team
We want to add a special thanks to the Facebook team for allowing us to be on-site during the launch of the usernames project. I got to speak with project managers, engineers, Facebook's VP of Engineering, and many more. I had the opportunity to see everyone in action, discuss the launch via Mashchat, and even eat some of the Chinese food they provided the team to fuel them through the night. All in all, it was a great experience.