Facebook on Thursday night unveiled its Foursquare killer. Dubbed Places, the feature lets Facebook’s 500 million members share their location by “checking in” to that place — whether it’s a movie theater, a restaurant, or a Starbucks — to let their friends know where they are. They can also see if their friends have been there recently or are nearby.
Here’s how it works: Tap the “Check In” button on the Places iPhone application. That will display a list of places near you. You can choose the place that matches where you are. If that place is not on the list, you can search for it or add it. Then, after you check in, Facebook will post a story in your friends’ news feeds and your visit will show up in the “Recent Activity” section on the page for that place.
“When you check in, you can also tag friends who are with you, just as you can tag a friend in a status update or photo,” said Michael Sharon, Facebook product manager for Places. “You can post an update along with your check-in to tell people more about what you are doing.”
Facebook vs Foursquare
Foursquare has gained momentum in the geolocation marketplace in recent months, with about 2.5 million users, and it broke the million-a-day check-in milestone in July. But will Facebook make Foursquare obsolete since most, if not all, of Foursquare’s users are probably also on Facebook?
“Foursquare was present at the launch event last night, so there’s an official ‘partnership’ there. However, Foursquare is the company that perhaps may stand to lose the most if Places takes off and becomes mainstream,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.
Sterling noted some differences between Places and Foursquare. For example, Facebook doesn’t offer rewards for checking in. However, Facebook has a…