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Facebook Places Features: 7 Things You Need To Know About Facebook's New Location Service

Facebook Places Features: 7 Things You Need To Know About Facebook's New Location Service
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By 

Executive Tech Editor, The Huffington Post

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Facebook Places, unveiled late Wednesday, is a highly-anticipated new location-based service that will allow Facebook users to "check in" to boutiques and bars, restaurants and theaters, places, then share their location, via Facebook, with their friends.

Facebook Places joins the ranks of several existing location-based social networks, such as Foursquare and Gowalla, which also allow users to share their locations by "checking in" to places and earn real-world rewards, like coupons or discounts, for their patronage of businesses.

How does Facebook Places work? How is it different from Foursquare or Gowalla? Can you control your privacy? Who sees your check-ins (and what's a check in??)?

We've taken a close look at Facebook Places' features and put together a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about the new service. Read more about it here.

How To 'Check In'--And What It Means(01 of07)
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With Facebook Places, users will be able to check in to a location (i.e. a park, bar, store, or restaurant). That check-in will then appear in your friends' news feeds, as well as under the "Recent Activity" section on the Facebook page for that place. You can tag friends in your check-ins using the @ symbol, as is currently possible with photos or status updates (you friends then have the option of accepting or rejecting your tag). With Places' "People Here Now" feature, you will be able to see other people, including users who are not your Facebook friends, who have also recently checked in to your location (although this can be disabled) Facebook explains, "This section is visible for a limited amount of time and only to people who are checked in there. That way you can meet other people who might share your interests. If you prefer not to appear in this section, you can control whether you show up by unchecking the "Include me in 'People Here Now' after I check in" privacy control." Minors will only see their friends.
It Syncs With Other Location-Based Social Networks(02 of07)
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TechCrunch writes, "Both [Foursquare and Gowalla] will allow you to check-in and publish the data to your Facebook feed. Your badges and pins from each of those apps will transfer over as well. [...] Yelp and Booyah (maker of MyTown) are also launch partners for this new API. Booyah is actually making a new app called InCrowd build on the Places API. WIth Yelp, you’ll be able to transfer your check-ins both to and from Facebook as well."
You'll Need A Smartphone(03 of07)
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Facebook Places will only work on smartphones and, initially, only on the iPhone. To use Places, you must download the (free) update for your Facebook iPhone app. According to Mashable, "If you don’t have an iPhone, you’ll have to use the Facebook touch mobile site [touch.facebook.com] on a browser that supports both HTML 5 and geolocation. The company does plan to roll out Android and BlackBerry versions of Places, but they haven’t released any specific dates for those releases yet." Mashable adds, "We’ve noted that it is possible to checkin from other non-smartphone devices in a regular, non-mobile browser, but you will have to use Facebook’s touch site."
You Have Privacy Controls(04 of07)
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Having struggled with privacy issues in the past, Facebook is trying to strike the right balance with "Places." Under the default settings, your check-ins will appear in your profile, in your Facebook friends' news feed, and in the "Recent Activity" section on that place's Facebook page. Friends can check you in to places by tagging you in their check-ins, but you have the option of disabling this--As Facebook explains, "The first time this happens, you'll be given the choice to allow your friends to check you in to places. [...] If you do not allow friends to check you in, then when they tag you at a place, your name will appear in the same way it appears in a tagged status update. You will not appear checked-in at that place." Mashable highlights how to change your privacy settings: If you want to change whether or not others can check you in without your knowledge or permission, you’ll have to click “Customize settings” on your privacy page, then scroll down to the “Things others share” section. You will note that by default, you enable others to check you in. You can disable this setting; there’s no option to allow checkins-by-proxy on individual approval.
You Won't Get Badges(05 of07)
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The AP explains, "Unlike Foursquare, Facebook has opted not to make Places into a game. There are no mayorships or merit badges – only socializing." (credit:Flickr: Nan Palmero)
You Can Cheat (A Little)(06 of07)
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Location-based social networks have struggled with how to handle cheaters--people who check in to a place, even though they're not actually there. In his review of Facebook Places, Walt Mossberg noted that there seemed to be some wiggle room with the new location service: " All of these tests went well, but I was surprised by one odd thing: I could check myself into nearby places even if I wasn’t there." It remains to be seen whether Facebook will address this issue.
It Only Works In The US (For Now)(07 of07)
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Currently, Facebook Places is only available to users in the United States. There has been no word yet on when it might be available internationally, but Facebook notes, "we expect to make it available to more countries and on additional mobile platforms soon." (credit:TechCrunch)
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