Facebook Places now everywhere
August 26, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
Warren Davies, digital planner with Cornwell. Picture: Aaron Francis
Source: The Australian
FACEBOOK’S move to scrap its mobile-only Places functionality this week has some industry experts scratching their heads.
Members have been able to “check-in” to locations using the Places feature on smartphones but Facebook will soon expand the service to cover different platforms.
“Before you could only ‘check-in’ to locations using the Places feature on a smartphone,” the company said. “Now you can add location to anything.
“Lots of people use Facebook to talk about where they are, have been or want to go. Now you can add location from anywhere, regardless of what device you are using, or whether it is a status update, photo or wall post.
“As a part of this, we are phasing out the mobile-only Places feature.”
Warren Davies, digital planner with Melbourne-based agency Cornwell, said the “earth moved for me just a little” after the announcement because Foursquare seemed to have “knocked off” Facebook.
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Foursquare is a popular location-based service for mobile devices.
“Big ups to Foursquare and a dedicated location service with a difference. This news signals that specialist social media services can survive and even flourish beyond the reach of Facebook,” Mr Davies wrote on his blog.
“It signals we need diversity in our online diet and we have the capacity and attention to sustain a wide and deep online ecosystem.”
Facebook Australia had only recently announced that Westfield and others would use Places as a marketing tool.
Shoppers who “check-in” when they visit Westfield shopping centres are given special discounts and deals.
Westfield marketing general manager John Batistich said Facebook’s update won’t affect its service.
“The change means shoppers will now tag Westfield in their updates just like they do their friends and the deal will appear under their news feed,” he said. “It’s very simple, and very convenient.
“This is good news for our retailers as well as our shoppers, as the update means deals will be shared with even more people, and shoppers who opt-in will receive exclusive offers straight to their mobile.”
Mr Batistich described Westfield’s partnership with Facebook as a “great success”.
“In just the first two weeks we’ve seen a significant spike in check-ins at Westfield centres nationally,” he said.
But Mr Davies said Westfield should in future consider the benefits of a dedicated location-based service like Foursquare over a mainstream network like Facebook.
