What’s Up With Facebook Places?
Posted on | August 21, 2010 | No Comments
Facebook just got into the game of geo-targeting as expected with their new feature, Facebook Places. So basically, you can now check into different restaurants, stores, or pretty much any establishment and tag and share with your friends where you are. There are several sites devoted to this, most notably Foursquare, who is in partnership (as of now) with Facebook on this project. (until Facebook decides to eat their lunch)
My blog post entitled “Foursquare or Stalkersquare” got a lot of comments and feedback so I decided to poll my Diamonds Fan Page on this issue to see what they thought. “Creepy” was the most popular answer.
I also have had some conversations with industry experts on this issue. As of now, the general feeling is that users aren’t crazy about it, but marketers do (and should) love it. Facebook has taken the time to ask if you are a real place (by verifying tax id/business licenses) before you can advertise your “place”, so I’m ready to do some cool giveaways and promotions for my customers when they check into Samuelson’s Diamonds.
On the other hand, I personally don’t want everyone knowing where I am, and I certainly don’t want people tagging me at a place (much like you would in a picture) without me knowing. One more thing. You think Farmville is annoying? Wait until you see your feed clogged up with Places…it’s gonna be a lot of noise.
Here’s a link to an article that will tell you how set your privacy settings so that you’re not tagged, if you prefer.
What’s my take on Places? I have no idea! We won’t know how this will affect your Facebook experience until we’re at least a six months in, so all we can do is wait it out and see where it goes. My one observation is that Facebook is trying to be everything to everyone on the web. Where it was once just a social network, now it’s a place for everything. What’s next? I think dominating search is inevitable. I also think that your very own facebook email account (like gmail and yahoo) is coming up.
What do you think?
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