6 ms·

Facebook launches Nearby Friends

58 points by andreavaccari 12y ago

fossuser 12y ago
I remember google latitude had this feature years ago and I thought it was really cool, but they killed it because people complained about it. I thought it was neat to be out at some family event or the mall etc. and get notices that your friends were nearby.
- RossM 12y ago
  It's still there in Google+, under locations.
  - fossuser 12y ago
    Maybe I remember them switching it from opt-out to opt-in then? Did that ever happen? I kind of wish it was opt-out by default, but I know that would probably cause a huge controversy. People are already collecting your location data anyway - might as well use it with your friends/people you'd actually want to have it.
    - RossM 12y ago
      Yeah I think that happened around the time they started sharing data between products. It's hella useful when it comes down to it (and you can be quite restrictive with your location in G+).
- bbrian 12y ago
  I remember I used to get notifications when people checked into places near me on Facebook.
suyash 12y ago
Haha, there goes your privacy to Facebook's advertisers.
nlh 12y ago
I can see both sides of this coin. On the one hand, the positive use case is actually pretty helpful -- I _would_ like to know if I'm at a bar and, for example, some friends are in the back that I might have otherwise missed. But on the flipside, this has the potential to turn a lot of social situations slightly sticky -- I immediately think back to a friend's "worst date ever" story where she was asked out by a guy who later cancelled because "work stuff came up". And then she ran into him, drunk, with his buddies, at the same bar. At least before FB he could have hidden under a table! ;)
- zippergz 12y ago
  It might be interesting if they could add some kind of geofencing feature to it. So you could have it automatically be enabled when you're hanging out at the bar you go to when you want to see friends, but be disabled otherwise. It's good that they let you turn it on and off whenever you want, but having to do so manually seems like a chore that will cause me to just leave it off all the time.
  - gedrap 12y ago
    Creating a whitelist sounds a bit tedious. Because it might look fun at first, you would add a few places, but then forget it forever, don't update them and the feature would slowly die. Blacklist makes more sense. E.g. I don't want people to know where exactly do I live. Or automatic disabling at specific dates, e.g. during the weekend.
    - zippergz 12y ago
      Yeah, good point.
chatman 12y ago
An invasion on privacy for those people whom FB can trick into activating the feature.
Hovertruck 12y ago
Will this be smart enough to not tell me every time my friends who live next door to me are nearby?
- hanley 12y ago
  I can imagine sitting at a bar with friends and getting notifications on my phone that they are nearby.
bronbron 12y ago
While this seems like a really cool idea, I have a feeling that this is the sort of feature that everyone will enable at first, and then one single bad event will cause them to disable it forever. I'm sure everyone has told a "white lie" at some point (e.g. "Sorry, I can't really hang out tonight because I'm not feeling well" == "I want to go see a movie by myself"), and anything that might hinder your ability to do that is likely to be disabled permanently the first time it causes an issue (or even in anticipation of it causing an issue).
- debt 12y ago
  It's weird because they've had a feature similar to this before. It was under a tab called "Nearby" or something in their left navigation. If I remember correctly it was web only but a user could access it on their phones through the mobile site. I liked it. It wasn't as one-to-one as this iteration of it though. It would only show you where someone recently checked-in. It was quite accurate though. It eventually just went away. I wonder why they got rid of that, but now are doing something like this.
  - gedrap 12y ago
    I remember this feature. I also remember that hardly anyone of my friends used checking in so it was fairly useless :)
SubZero 12y ago
Geolocation features aside, I'm more impressed by the fact that Facebook has created something that's opt-in rather than volunteering people right off the bat.
dougcorrea 12y ago
What about automatically chatting with ANYONE nearby you that is using the app and "available" for chat? I think this will be a good idea. Imagine you in traffic, and launch the app to chat with the driver in the car side yours... The same could works when you go to party and don't try to find somebody "available" there.... This, for Facebook, should be easy, right?
- scrame 12y ago
  Do you seriously think that wouldn't just turn into a chatroulette insta-dong service?
  - dougcorrea 12y ago
    Actually the idea is to turn in it! I think today one of most "popular" whatsapp feature is group message. Now imagine "localizated" group message formed automatically! When you go to a Rock concert it will be possible to chat with everyone there, make new friends, chat privately and so on... Actually it will be: chatroullete + whatsapp + tinder + Facebook Nearby :) Maybe I should put this idea on IndieGoGo... I'll wait for some feedbacks where first...them maybe I create an campaign there :)
    - scrame 12y ago
      Right, group messaging for people you know. I don't see anonymous group messaging as anything other than weird political blasting, anonymous dick pics and an outlet for road rage. You also shouldn't be on facebook when you're driving.
      - dougcorrea 12y ago
        I understand your point, but I'm curious how tinder, chatroullete and other forms to chat with unknown people are so popular?
    - Rei_k 12y ago
      I think it could be a great thing. In a stadium, for example, it should be interesting for some people. And better that, in parties, obviously. But what we'll receive as perk to contribute on IndieGoGo? =)
maximumsteve 12y ago
Great use of all that capital Facebook has been getting! This feature is old hat, and honestly, aren't we all a bit beyond this novelty? I personally only want to hang out with people that have been invited to the event. This feature will definitely remain off, and Facebook will continually be relegated to a very small area of my life. (Rolodex)
matznerd 12y ago
The problem with this type of integration in such a widespread app is that it can become problematic to explain to someone, like a significant other, why you would have a need to not share your location with them. It can be difficult to counter the "what do you have to hide" line of reasoning.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
matthodan 12y ago
I created a similar service a while back at http://www.nearbyfriends.com http://www.nearbyfriends.com. Here is a video describing the launch: http://vimeo.com/15039067 http://vimeo.com/15039067. I later added proximity alerts so you could see when your Facebook friends check in near you. Funny to see Facebook launch a similar "Nearby Friends" three years later.
xiata 12y ago
Not bad, I think this will end games of phone tag where people mention vague landmarks for friends at large events. Due to Facebook's usage, I think this will take off. No need to convince friends unsuccessfully to install another app.
mmxiii 12y ago
While most posts are touching on privacy or failure cases, I am still struggling to understand this product from a social perspective. First of all, this general idea has been floating around since companies like loopt, when mobile started taking off. I remember working through the use case considerations for this kind of product, and that's where it really dies. This breed of product is based on the idea that location = event. If someone is at a location, that means something is going on. But it ignores massive implicit social constructs: 1. Facebook friends are not real friends (Circles is slightly better but classification is onerous), 2. Someone you don't know well is unlikely to share their location to you, and less likely to agree to hang out based on location, in contrast someone you do know well, you will easily be aware of their location and availability. The reality is that this product captures one piece of information - where is my friend right now. But on any serious reflection, you should be able to discern that this piece of information is incredibly secondary to the nature of the actual relationship when determining whether or not to hang out.
- npizzolato 12y ago
  One place I can see this being useful is at music festivals or other large open-area events. Often you're going with other people, but you're not necessarily going to stick together the entire time. Being able to find each other easily would be a nice improvement, as phone-tag is a pretty terrible way to do it.
- kytmizuno 12y ago
  Some of my best friends have moved to different parts of the country. And because of the distance, we simply talk less. But whenever we do meet up, it's like they never left. Just because I don't talk to someone on a weekly basis doesn't mean I wouldn't want to meet up if it were convenient.
ausjke 12y ago
Tencent's QQ and Wechat IM services have been doing this for a long while, both are very popular. Nice catch up FB.
ecesena 12y ago
Eventually Glancee [1] see the light! Congrats guys ;) [1] http://www.glancee.com http://www.glancee.com
obiefernandez 12y ago
I live in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, about 30 miles from the center. I have a local group of friends that I get together with on a weekly basis. But this feature seems like it might help me see my city-based friends on a more regular basis. Times that I drive into the city, or fly to other metro areas for conferences and meetings, I'd love to know if I have FB friends nearby to meet up with.
pain_perdu 12y ago
The folks who recently poured millions into connect.com are NOT going to be happy about this.
huhtenberg 12y ago
Not really related, but does anyone know why newsroom.fb.com is running on WordPress?
- sebastianavina 12y ago
  because they don't want to reinvent the wheel?
jackmaney 12y ago
I would prefer that my nearby friends not be launched anywhere.

58 points by andreavaccari 12y ago

I remember google latitude had this feature years ago and I thought it was really cool, but they killed it because people complained about it. I thought it was neat to be out at some family event or the mall etc. and get notices that your friends were nearby.

RossM 12y ago
It's still there in Google+, under locations.
- fossuser 12y ago
  Maybe I remember them switching it from opt-out to opt-in then? Did that ever happen? I kind of wish it was opt-out by default, but I know that would probably cause a huge controversy. People are already collecting your location data anyway - might as well use it with your friends/people you'd actually want to have it.
  - RossM 12y ago
    Yeah I think that happened around the time they started sharing data between products. It's hella useful when it comes down to it (and you can be quite restrictive with your location in G+).
bbrian 12y ago
I remember I used to get notifications when people checked into places near me on Facebook.

suyash 12y ago

Haha, there goes your privacy to Facebook's advertisers.

nlh 12y ago

I can see both sides of this coin. On the one hand, the positive use case is actually pretty helpful -- I _would_ like to know if I'm at a bar and, for example, some friends are in the back that I might have otherwise missed. But on the flipside, this has the potential to turn a lot of social situations slightly sticky -- I immediately think back to a friend's "worst date ever" story where she was asked out by a guy who later cancelled because "work stuff came up". And then she ran into him, drunk, with his buddies, at the same bar. At least before FB he could have hidden under a table! ;)

zippergz 12y ago
It might be interesting if they could add some kind of geofencing feature to it. So you could have it automatically be enabled when you're hanging out at the bar you go to when you want to see friends, but be disabled otherwise. It's good that they let you turn it on and off whenever you want, but having to do so manually seems like a chore that will cause me to just leave it off all the time.
- gedrap 12y ago
  Creating a whitelist sounds a bit tedious. Because it might look fun at first, you would add a few places, but then forget it forever, don't update them and the feature would slowly die. Blacklist makes more sense. E.g. I don't want people to know where exactly do I live. Or automatic disabling at specific dates, e.g. during the weekend.
  - zippergz 12y ago
    Yeah, good point.

chatman 12y ago

An invasion on privacy for those people whom FB can trick into activating the feature.

Hovertruck 12y ago

Will this be smart enough to not tell me every time my friends who live next door to me are nearby?

hanley 12y ago
I can imagine sitting at a bar with friends and getting notifications on my phone that they are nearby.

bronbron 12y ago

While this seems like a really cool idea, I have a feeling that this is the sort of feature that everyone will enable at first, and then one single bad event will cause them to disable it forever. I'm sure everyone has told a "white lie" at some point (e.g. "Sorry, I can't really hang out tonight because I'm not feeling well" == "I want to go see a movie by myself"), and anything that might hinder your ability to do that is likely to be disabled permanently the first time it causes an issue (or even in anticipation of it causing an issue).

debt 12y ago
It's weird because they've had a feature similar to this before. It was under a tab called "Nearby" or something in their left navigation. If I remember correctly it was web only but a user could access it on their phones through the mobile site. I liked it. It wasn't as one-to-one as this iteration of it though. It would only show you where someone recently checked-in. It was quite accurate though. It eventually just went away. I wonder why they got rid of that, but now are doing something like this.
- gedrap 12y ago
  I remember this feature. I also remember that hardly anyone of my friends used checking in so it was fairly useless :)

SubZero 12y ago

Geolocation features aside, I'm more impressed by the fact that Facebook has created something that's opt-in rather than volunteering people right off the bat.

dougcorrea 12y ago

What about automatically chatting with ANYONE nearby you that is using the app and "available" for chat? I think this will be a good idea. Imagine you in traffic, and launch the app to chat with the driver in the car side yours... The same could works when you go to party and don't try to find somebody "available" there.... This, for Facebook, should be easy, right?

scrame 12y ago
Do you seriously think that wouldn't just turn into a chatroulette insta-dong service?
- dougcorrea 12y ago
  Actually the idea is to turn in it! I think today one of most "popular" whatsapp feature is group message. Now imagine "localizated" group message formed automatically! When you go to a Rock concert it will be possible to chat with everyone there, make new friends, chat privately and so on... Actually it will be: chatroullete + whatsapp + tinder + Facebook Nearby :) Maybe I should put this idea on IndieGoGo... I'll wait for some feedbacks where first...them maybe I create an campaign there :)
  - scrame 12y ago
    Right, group messaging for people you know. I don't see anonymous group messaging as anything other than weird political blasting, anonymous dick pics and an outlet for road rage. You also shouldn't be on facebook when you're driving.
    - dougcorrea 12y ago
      I understand your point, but I'm curious how tinder, chatroullete and other forms to chat with unknown people are so popular?
  - Rei_k 12y ago
    I think it could be a great thing. In a stadium, for example, it should be interesting for some people. And better that, in parties, obviously. But what we'll receive as perk to contribute on IndieGoGo? =)

maximumsteve 12y ago

Great use of all that capital Facebook has been getting! This feature is old hat, and honestly, aren't we all a bit beyond this novelty? I personally only want to hang out with people that have been invited to the event. This feature will definitely remain off, and Facebook will continually be relegated to a very small area of my life. (Rolodex)

matznerd 12y ago

The problem with this type of integration in such a widespread app is that it can become problematic to explain to someone, like a significant other, why you would have a need to not share your location with them. It can be difficult to counter the "what do you have to hide" line of reasoning.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

matthodan 12y ago

I created a similar service a while back at http://www.nearbyfriends.com http://www.nearbyfriends.com. Here is a video describing the launch: http://vimeo.com/15039067 http://vimeo.com/15039067. I later added proximity alerts so you could see when your Facebook friends check in near you. Funny to see Facebook launch a similar "Nearby Friends" three years later.

xiata 12y ago

Not bad, I think this will end games of phone tag where people mention vague landmarks for friends at large events. Due to Facebook's usage, I think this will take off. No need to convince friends unsuccessfully to install another app.

mmxiii 12y ago

While most posts are touching on privacy or failure cases, I am still struggling to understand this product from a social perspective. First of all, this general idea has been floating around since companies like loopt, when mobile started taking off. I remember working through the use case considerations for this kind of product, and that's where it really dies. This breed of product is based on the idea that location = event. If someone is at a location, that means something is going on. But it ignores massive implicit social constructs: 1. Facebook friends are not real friends (Circles is slightly better but classification is onerous), 2. Someone you don't know well is unlikely to share their location to you, and less likely to agree to hang out based on location, in contrast someone you do know well, you will easily be aware of their location and availability. The reality is that this product captures one piece of information - where is my friend right now. But on any serious reflection, you should be able to discern that this piece of information is incredibly secondary to the nature of the actual relationship when determining whether or not to hang out.

npizzolato 12y ago
One place I can see this being useful is at music festivals or other large open-area events. Often you're going with other people, but you're not necessarily going to stick together the entire time. Being able to find each other easily would be a nice improvement, as phone-tag is a pretty terrible way to do it.
kytmizuno 12y ago
Some of my best friends have moved to different parts of the country. And because of the distance, we simply talk less. But whenever we do meet up, it's like they never left. Just because I don't talk to someone on a weekly basis doesn't mean I wouldn't want to meet up if it were convenient.

ausjke 12y ago

Tencent's QQ and Wechat IM services have been doing this for a long while, both are very popular. Nice catch up FB.

ecesena 12y ago

Eventually Glancee [1] see the light! Congrats guys ;) [1] http://www.glancee.com http://www.glancee.com

obiefernandez 12y ago

I live in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, about 30 miles from the center. I have a local group of friends that I get together with on a weekly basis. But this feature seems like it might help me see my city-based friends on a more regular basis. Times that I drive into the city, or fly to other metro areas for conferences and meetings, I'd love to know if I have FB friends nearby to meet up with.

pain_perdu 12y ago

The folks who recently poured millions into connect.com are NOT going to be happy about this.

huhtenberg 12y ago

Not really related, but does anyone know why newsroom.fb.com is running on WordPress?

sebastianavina 12y ago
because they don't want to reinvent the wheel?

jackmaney 12y ago

I would prefer that my nearby friends not be launched anywhere.