After nearly a month to the day of being released in the US, UK users can today begin to use Facebook’s new location service ‘Places’. The new service, which was launched in the US on the 19th August, allows users to check into locations in much the same way as you could with other services such as Foursquare. Users also have the ability to tag their friends at locations and this information is displayed on your news feed for all your friends to see.
At the moment the servi
ce is only available for iPhone users or by going to touch.facebook.com however it will soon be rolled out for other devices including Blackberry and Android. All users have to do is simply log-in to Facebook, click Places and then a list of local places appear. Just like with Fouraqaure if a place is not listed then you can create one yourself.
The new service also lists nearby business and attractions which will have massive potential for brands. Once again if your brand is not listed then all you have to do is simply create one.
If you have been following the progress of Places over time then you will be well aware of the concern many have had in regards to privacy especially in regards to minors. However Facebook have made a point of hammering home the fact that location information only appears on a user’s wall and newsfeed and by default only friends can see it. For minors in particular the service is automatically set to display to friends only and this cannot be changed to ‘everyone’ while they are under 18.
However the privacy features at the moment still do not appear to be bullet proof as some people have been quick to find faults already in that users are automatically opted in to the ability to be tagged by their friends by default, and that ‘non-friends’ checked-in to the same place are able to see your whereabouts.
It doesn’t stop there however are some critics have even suggested that Places can pose a burglary risk and that a consequence could be that insurance premiums could increase as it jeopardizes the security of homes.
All that aside Places is sure to be a huge success and with Facebook’s overwhelming user base will have no trouble overtaking Foursquare. It also has massive potential for brands to gain increased exposure and allow for more targeting advertising through Facebook’s paid advertising service which will allow advertisers to target through a combination of users likes, demographic and now location.
October 5th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Launching places is great for idea for locating businesses. i was a bit weary about this because i thought this could be potentially great for stalkers, but after having read this blog its changed my mind, in the sense that only friends can view your locations and that’s its completely locked to minors until they turn 18. Theirs only one problem now… the issue of burglary!