With social media integrating itself more and more into our everyday lives, it’s almost impossible to think that we could become any more “attached”. In the never ending race to connect the world, Facebook announced last week that they are beginning to roll out an optional new feature in their mobile app to help users find friends who might be nearby. The new feature is called “Nearby Friends” and it will notify you when friends as close, so that you can get in touch with them. Don’t worry, though. This feature can be turned on, or off, depending on how private you’d like to be. As a user, you’re not obligated to use it but if you decide to turn it on you can also choose which groups of friends can see if you’re nearby.
Sharing your location requires that both you and your friends have the feature turned on. You can also share you specific location with a specific friend for a set time period, if you’d like. When you share that location with them, the friend will see on a map exactly where you are which can help you find each other.
With nearby friends, you will also be able to see when you friends are traveling. You can see the city or neighborhood they’re currently in if they’re sharing that information with you.
According to Facebook, the idea behind this option is that they’re trying to get people to connect more in the real world rather than online. They’re hoping to encourage more spontaneous meet ups with your friends by knowing who is around you. Neat!