Facebook rolls out new mobile service for users to 'make friends'
Posted on Jun 26, 2012 by equimedia
Facebook is encouraging its users to make friends through a new mobile feature on the social media site.
People can connect with others nearby through the novel Facebook mobile offering, as long as both parties are logged in.
Ryan Patterson, Facebook engineer, told TechCrunch: "I built Find Friends Nearby with another engineer for a hackathon project.
"While it was originally called 'Friendshake', we settled on ‘Find Friends Nearby’ for launch (the URL was a little bit of a homage to the previous iteration)."
The new feature is designed to be used by people when they are out and about with a group of new acquaintances. It will boost the ability of social media users to connect with each other instantly and build their contacts.
"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," Mr Patterson explained to the news provider.
The new update also holds a lot of potential for the advertising and marketing industry, who can use the new platform to reach out to consumers and build their following.
However, TechCrunch claim that since the announcement of Find Friends Nearby at the weekend, the application has been removed, with users getting an error page when clicking on the iOS icon.
Nonetheless, the update indicates how Facebook may be looking to move forward, specifically with their mobile site.
Today (June 26th)Facebook has also signed a privacy pact for mobile application developers looking to have their software accessible via the social media site's App Centre.
Companies are now required to display their privacy policies in a consistent location on the application-download screen for users.
It is hoped that the heightened levels of privacy created through the pact will give people confidence when using Facebook mobile.
