Facebook Places, launched last week has set out to bring friends together while out on the town. Accessed via the new most recent version of the Facebook iphone app or touch.facebook.com (available if your mobile browser supports HTML 5 and geolocation), users are able to check-in and notify friends of where they are and also see if some are nearby. Connecting friends it is what Facebook does and bringing them together away from the laptop is an expansion of the connecting. I suppose it eliminates the need for a text or a phone call and increases your popularity by and good will by supporting your local establishments. I doubt we will see FB check-ins from Target or a local church but the urge to resist the check-in from the hottest Friday Happy Hour bar seat may be too great to ignore.
Checking-In with Facebook Places
If you are like me, the announcement of Facebook Places was no big surprise. However, finding the time to spend some time with it, was a different story. Before I was singing the praise or running to opt out, I wanted to take a look around and see what all the hype was about. I also was curious as to the default settings as when instant personalization was launched, you were opted in and it was only when you opted out instant personalization that your information would not be shared.
Checking-in via the app or touch.facebook.com is quite simple as you click on Check-In and list of places near you appears. Choose the place that matches where you are and check-in. If the location is not on the list, add it. Once you check in, your friends' News feed is updated as well the page for the business/location that you just checked into in the Recent Activity. This is seeming very similar to Facebook's Like and Link as once you check-in, you are linked to that page.
As you are generally are not alone when heading out for a night on the town so, Facebook has expanded tagging to Places in the same way that photos are tagged. And for the curious types looking to see who else has checked in to where you are, the "People Here Now" provides this information (for those that have it enabled).
How to Opt Out of Facebook Places
Facebook Places is not for everyone. For those, that have set their Facebook page as private as it can be or are old school and still call or text, opting out is a few short steps.
1. On your page, click on the Account tab, Privacy Settings and then down at the bottom, Customize Settings.
2. The Things I Share/Things Others Share and Contact Information appears.
a. First, change Places I Check Into to "Only Me" by clicking the drop down, selecting Custom and then Only me.
b. Second, disable Include me in "People Here Now" after I check in by clicking the "Enable" box so that a check mark does not appear.
3. Scroll down to Things Others Share and "Disable" from the drop down menu, Friends can check me in to Places.
4. Return to the Privacy page by clicking "Back to Privacy" tab at the top left. Click on Edit your settings under Applications and Web Sites. Then, click Edit settings to the right of "Info accessible through your friends." At the bottom right, remove the check mark from "Places I check in to."
The ability to check into locations is not new as Foursquare and Gowalla are widely used. The challenge for Facebook is to have those users to also check in on Facebook. Once people start to see others checking in, they will follow suit while others who are not Foursquare or Gowalla users will take the lead and check in on Facebook with tagging their friends of course.
Have you had a chance to explore Facebook Places? Have you disabled or will you be using this to check-in?