What is Facebook Places?
Tell your followers where you are with Facebook Places.
Oh, the places you’ve been. Wouldn’t it be great if you could let all your friends know where you are at that very moment in real-time? The good news is Facebook Places lets you do just that. This nifty little geolocational tool lets you post a real-time update of where you are and what you’re doing when you’re out and about.
Did you just find a cool new restaurant and you want to be the first to say you found it? Use Facebook Places. On your way to a movie and want your friends to meet you there? Facebook Places is good for that too. Stuck at the train station and want your boss to know that you’re on your way in to work? Sure, you can use Facebook Places to let them know you’re travel time is delayed.
What Facebook Places Is Like
Facebook Places is kinda like Foursquare, a guide for exploring cities. The benefit to Facebook places is since you’re already connected to friends likely because you have shared and common interests, they are like personal city guides with same-same interests. You can check in via Facebook and see if any of your friends are at the same place at the same time. You can also use it to see if friends are nearby and score yourself a last-minute invite.
If you’ve never used it before, here’s how it works: When you check in using Facebook Places, it will update that tidbit of info to your friends. If you’ve got some pals tagging along, be sure to “tag” them in the same location, which can be done as part of the status update or through a picture.
If you don’t want others to know where you are when you post a status update, not to worry. You can opt out of having your location published. And if you only want to let others know where you are occasionally, you’ll see the option under the Status Update box when you start typing. If others are at the same location (let’s say at a sporting event), it will show up on your News Feed with a headline stating “People Here Now.” And don’t worry—your location isn’t broadcast out to the world—it’s only sent out to your friends. Again, you can disable this feature in your privacy settings.
If you’re on your smartphone, Facebook Places makes it easy to check in—you can find the tab along side other features, posts, people, video, marketplace, places, groups, apps, events, and links.
How often to you use Facebook Places to check in? Do you think its harmless fun or a security risk?