Facebook – How to use Facebook pages shortcuts

As I said in the comments

I have read in some places that the username is held for a bit (a few weeks) before it's released. Now it's not to say it's not possible; Zuck had his personal profile merged with his page and got a permanent redirect on one, but it's whether Facebook is inclined to help every soul out there.

So it is possible some lag time is held to account for name squatters and vandalism. Seeing that you were able to make the switch makes this even more valid. I would imagine it is not something Facebook is trying to make widely known as this would just increase the number of complaints from users that their username switch isn't working.

I do the same thing, with English, Japanese, Thai and Turkish. I've found it's pretty much necessary to have each language have it's own page, for several reasons. First, it's easier on the reader, who might feel alienated by seeing content in another language. Second, it allows me to control the links that end up getting featured at the bottom of the post. Another reason is that the content can stay relevant from a cultural or national point of view.

One objection that was raised was that we might be "watering down" our likes by spreading them over several pages. This might be true, but I don't think a higher number of likes is a better goal than having stronger reader engagement.

The likes can also work to your advantage, since you can test a Facebook page in a new language in a new market and see how the audience responds.

Also, if you start getting to the point where you have four or five or more languages it starts to seem absurd to have them all fighting for attention on the same page.