Facebook's 'Find Friends Nearby' -- Good Idea, Needs Work

Find Friends Nearby is available on FacebookFacebook's mobile Website at fb.com/ffn, and in Facebook's mobile apps for iOS and AndroidAndroid. (In the sidebar, tap “Find Friends” in the apps section, then tap “Other tools” and “Find Friends Nearby.) Alles zu Android auf CIO.de Alles zu Facebook auf CIO.de

When multiple people launch this feature in close proximity, they'll see each other's names in a list, even if they're not friends on Facebook. For each list entry, there's a button to quickly add that person as a friend.

To be clear, the feature only works when both parties have the Friends Near Me page open at the same time. In that sense, it's a lot different from the infamous "Girls Around Me" app, because it doesn't draw on public data, and only locates people who are actively looking for other Facebook users.

Convenient or Creepy

Over at TechCrunch, Facebook engineer Ryan Patterson explains that Find Friends Nearby is best used as a way to share contact information with someone you've just met without exchanging business cards.