I Got Friends In Facebook Places, Where the...Wait a Minute...Is This Really For Me?

by Jessica Northey
Forgive me Garth for butchering your song with my "catchy blog title". ;)

Are you like everyone else out there, trying to decide what you think about Facebook Places? I was just getting the hang of Foursquare, and how it could be useful for me, and my clients.



So, what exactly is Facebook Pages you ask?
For those of you who have checked out services like Foursquare, Gowalla, Whrrl, Brightkite, the concept is pretty much the same. Users can "check-in" at venues using a mobile website, text messaging or a device-specific application and you offer advice and tips about the location, receive points, badges- yada yada yada.

With Facebook Places, you can create places and check in. You also have access to your friend’s locations. Ever gone to a show, only to find out afterward that your friends were there too? With Places, you can discover moments when you and your friends are at the same place at the same time (sounds like a disaster for dating if you are seeing more than one person). You have the option to share your location by "checking in" to that place and letting friends know where you are. You can easily see if any of your friends have also chosen to check in there, or nearby.  You can also find new places based on where you are. Not much is different from other location based mobile applications. Facebook is just getting into the market too.

However.....




....I couldn’t help noticing the other day the trending topic in my area was “disable facebook places.” I had to look, seeing as though Facebook has had some privacy issues. I am concerned with them [Facebook] helping themselves to my location or worse, ANYONE helping themselves to my location, placing/tagging me somewhere, even if to be helpful or just putting me somewhere silly as a joke. I decided to temporarily disable it until I have a better feel for it.

That's it for now, but I still think you should all take a look at the application and make your own decision. You can watch the presentation here.

If you'd prefer to keep your location private, or at least stop your friends from posting it, here's how.

What are your thoughts?