Understanding Facebook Places

Facebook’s latest feature, Facebook Places, allows you to check in to a location from your mobile device in order to let your Friends know where you are at and what you are up to. For example, if you are near a hotspot like Starbucks, you can check in and see which of your Friends might be at nearby hotspots like the bookstore across the street or the movie theater next door. The idea is that you can let them know you are nearby if they want to hang out.

You can also use Facebook Places to let other people know what kind of experience you are having at a place. For example, you can post “Huge lines at the 9 pm Harry Potter movie, good luck getting tickets!” or “Hungry? 2-for-1 appetizers at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant tonight!” Some places might even give you special coupons and deals for checking in.

This feature will probably be most popular with those who are social butterflies and not too concerned about their privacy. On that note, there has been a lot of media about how this feature will affect the privacy of Facebook users since it is exposing your exact location via GPS. Here’s a few facts you need to be aware of:

• Currently, only users with the Facebook app on their mobile devices, can “check in” to places (currently iPhone users, but coming soon to Androids).
• Facebook will not automatically post your location; you must check in if you want to be included in “People Here Now.”
• Friends can check you into a place, much like they can tag you in a photo, unless you disable this feature.
• By default, your location alerts are only posted to your Friends, not to Everyone (unless you change this setting).
• By default, your “check ins” may be posted in the Facebook Places activity stream for the location you are at, allowing people other than your Friends to see who you are.

It is highly recommended that you review the privacy settings for Facebook Places. There is a lot of potential for getting into trouble with location postings. For example, what if you tell your Friend Mandy you are too tired to go out and then your other Friend Jack checks you into the Martini Bar you are hanging out at. The post shows in your news feed and Mandy realizes you ditched her to hang out with your other Friends. Not so good, especially for a feature that supposedly promotes social interactions.

Before using Facebook Places, it would be best to consider the privacy implications and set your privacy controls accordingly. Learn how, by visiting our How to Set Privacy for Facebook Places interactive.