How to turn on Nearby Friends and Nearby Places on Facebook for Android

Nearby Friends and Nearby Places are two of the many mobile features Facebook has launched recently in a bid to reassure user confidence in the platform. These updates came at a time when the social network’s future was being questioned from all directions. Through innovation, Facebook has been able to counter all opposition and establish itself as one of the best ways for people to connect with their friends, family, and colleagues.

Nearby Friends

For this feature to work, you have to share your location. Launch your Facebook Android App and tap on the more tab.

• In the menu that shows up, you should be able to see the ‘Nearby Friends’ option. Tap on it.
• If location services are disabled on your smartphone, you’ll be promoted to enable them right from your Facebook app. Simply tap to allow Facebook to turn on Google’s location service.
• You’ll be asked to invite your friends to share their location as well. The app will list any of your friends who have enabled this feature. In the same way, your friends who’ve turned on Nearby Friends will see you listed. The list also displays the distance between you and your friends, the last logged location, as well as the current neighborhood they are in.

You can turn off location history from Nearby Friends settings.

Nearby Places

Just like Nearby Friends, this feature is only available in the Facebook iOS and Android apps. Facebook creates a comprehensive list of places based on check-ins, friends’ recommendations, and likes.

• To enable this feature on your Facebook app, simply tap on the More icon then choose ‘Nearby Places’.
• You can search businesses and places in locations near you by selecting from the category list. You can also search your area to find places on the map, as well as view a place’s page.

So the next time you find yourself stranded in a new area and don’t know where to eat, simply launch your Facebook app and get going.

How about advertising?

There’s no such thing as free lunch nowadays. Eventually, Facebook will use your location history to allow advertisers push targeted advertising to you. There’s no question about it. That aside, Facebook’s Nearby Friends and Nearby Places are valuable features that can also be seen as a strategy the network is using to tighten the social leash.

Image Source: Tech Crunch