It’s just that Facebook didn’t win the market - Snapchat did. While one might think that today’s consumers would be generally less inclined to share their location through social networking features in general, as it turns out, that’s not quite the case. The social networking giant acquired the newcomer Glancee in 2012, whose team then went on to build out the Nearby Friends feature which launched in 2014. In fact, many companies were battling for users’ attention in the space, including startups like Highlight (founded by Clubhouse’s Paul Davison, who later sold it to Pinterest), Banjo (which died after its founder was revealed to have been linked to the KKK), Sonar (a TechCrunch Disrupt finalist which wound down without an exit), Foursquare (which pivoted and lived) and many others that are no more.įacebook had been looking to compete in the space, as well, so it did what it usually does: it bought something. The closures were first spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra when he noticed an alert in his notifications.įacebook’s Nearby Friends feature debuted on the market at a time when location-based social networking apps were taking off.
For example, location data is still used to personalize ads, for posts with check-ins, Facebook Events and more. They can also choose to disable the features’ ability to collect their location information before the end date.Īlthough these features were specifically powered by location data, Facebook says it will continue to collect users’ location information for other experiences across its platform as described by its Data Policy. According to an informational message, the features will no longer collect information after that date, and by August 1, 2022, the location history and background location information that had previously been shared will be deleted.įacebook advises users they can still log in to access their information or even download a copy before August 1, if they want to view or delete the information on Facebook’s site before the cutoff date or keep a copy for their records. That could help to explain why, after eight years, Facebook is shutting down this longtime feature.įacebook is alerting users through emails and News Feed notifications that Nearby Friends, along with Weather Alerts, location history and background location will be discontinued as of May 31, 2022. These days, online users are more cautious about sharing their location data with the tech giant and less likely to use such a tool. In simpler times, a Facebook feature called Nearby Friends was thought to be a handy way to find out if any of your friends were close by so you could hang out.
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