Facebook Places was first introduced by Facebook last August 2010 and was only rolled out to a handful of countries but it looks like the service is now working here in the Philippines and the rest of the world. For those who are not familiar with the service, Facebook Places allows users to “check-in” to places using Facebook on their mobile device and allows them to tag their friends who are in the same venue. The service bears a lot of similarity to Foursquare or Gowalla and just like the latter two services, Facebook Places allows you to find and avail of local deals by simply checking-in. For those still confused, you can read more about the service here.
Together with the worldwide launch of Facebook Places, it appears Facebook is also rolling out a new function for Facebook Events that will allow people to check-in during events. Facebook has confirmed this story to PCMag.com and according to All Facebook, the option to check-in will appear on an icon which only appears on the date of the event. Looks like Facebook has big plans for Facebook Places.
It’s interesting to see how Facebook can successfully push people to use this service. Although Foursquare and Gowalla had a head start in getting subscribers to use their service, Facebook Places will surely give the two location-based services a tough competition considering Facebook has the advantage in terms of subscriber numbers. While this is good news for some, I know some of you who who won’t be using this service due to issues concerning privacy. Fret not because I’ve also prepared something for you privacy nuts. Watch the video from LifeHacker below to learn how you can disable Facebook Places on your account.
