Facebook Can Now Follow You

by: chnbtt@gmail.com

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2010 Time: 12:13 AM - 0 comments

There was once a time when if you wanted someone to know your whereabouts, you'd either tell them where you were going in advance, or simply call them on up the phone from your location and tell them.

However thanks to technology combining with the ever increasing evolution and popularity of Facebook, you can pretty much now let the world and its neighbour know your exact location at the touch of a button (if you're not careful!)

The world's largest social networking site Facebook has just launched a brand new application called Places. This feature uses satellite tracking technology which allows users to share their current location information with their fellow Facebook 'friends'. Although the service is only currently available in the US, the company plans to make it available worldwide.

There are already 'location services' on the market, such as the increasingly popular Foursquare and Gowalla. Both of these services allow consumers to use their mobile phones to update their friends on their whereabouts.

But what are the motives behind this latest move, and more importantly, the dangers? Facebook has already suffered a backlash over its privacy settings and this latest application has now sparked even more fears. Some have criticised the social network site saying that it will make users who use the application more vulnerable to crime. However Facebook has said that the information will only be shared with the users friends and insisted that there will be privacy measures in place, including allowing users to be able to 'block' the Places function.

So what's in it for Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg? Is he using this latest technology to draw more people into his social networking web? Is he just trying to provide the millions of existing users with another quick way of sharing yet more information about themselves with their virtual friends? Or maybe he knows that Places will attract another (possibly) lucrative slice of the advertising market?

Who knows? Only time will tell and obviously Facebook users themselves. These are the ones that will be able to make Places a success or not. With new technology developing everyday, who knows where this will all end up? Maybe this time next year, not only will you be able to post an update of your exact location to all your friends, but you'll also be able to accompany it with an aerial photograph too!