Today in TechFacebook quietly introduces Find Friends Nearby for mobile
Facebook has yet to officially announce the feature, but if you know where to access it and how to make it work, you can already use Find Friends Nearby to look for potential friends near you. The new feature was made specifically for the social network's mobile website and Android and iOS apps.
Originally called Friendshake, the feature comes almost two months after Facebook acquired Glancee — a social app that notifies you if there are other users near you. Using Find Friends Nearby is a two-step process: First, open the feature's web page on your mobile browser and sign in. Then on Facebook's app or mobile website, go to Menu > Find Friends > Other Tools > Find Friends Nearby.
You have to be logged in on both Find Friends Nearby's special URL and on Facebook for the feature to work. A word of caution: Activating the feature will make you visible to anyone else near your area who's also logged in at at the same time, even if they're not on your friends list.
Ryan Patterson, the Facebook engineer who built the feature told Techcrunch: "For me, the ideal use case for this product is the one where when you're out with a group of people whom you've recently met and want to stay in contact with. Facebook search might be effective, or sharing your vanity addresses or business cards, but this tool provides a really easy way to exchange contact information with multiple people with minimal friction."
This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca
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