Have you checked-in with Facebook Places? Probably not

October 29, 2010 9:57 AM
Cody Barbierri
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An inside source at Facebook is claiming that some 30 million of its users have used Facebook Places, according to Business Insider. With more than 500 million users, that number would mean that only about 6% of Facebook users have tried the newly launched feature.

Facebook revealed its plans for Facebook Places back in August with the goal of allowing users to share their location with friends, to see where their friends are, and to discover new places. Sound familiar? It’s pretty much the same goals as popular mobile check-in game Foursquare.  Foursquare co-founder and chief executive Dennis Crowley graciously noted this when we spoke with him during the Facebook Places launch. At the time, he was still deciding what he thought of the new Facebook feature.

According to Business Insider, Foursquare may be in trouble if Facebook users start to experiment with Facebook Places. While the new feature is pretty simple with none of the gaming or incentive features (offers, points and badges) found in Foursquare and other location-based services, Facebook could lure users away from location services if it decided to include those gaming aspects. According to a report by AllFacebook, Facebook just might be starting on incentive features already, with rumors that it’s testing a way for businesses to use the Places service to offer deals to their customers.

We agree with Business Insider that Foursquare doesn’t have anything to worry about just yet. The Facebook Places feature remains just that, a feature, not an experience like other location-based services, such as Foursquare. But if interest in the feature picks up, that could change.

  • http://www.facebook.com/david.quiec David Quiec

    I've used it, prolly in minority. That said, 500 million Facebook users around the world. How many in US? I think that's were most of the current users are. So it might be bigger than you think

  • http://venturebeat.com/2011/08/23/foursquare-wins-against-facebook-places/ Foursquare wins major victory with death of Facebook Places | VentureBeat

    [...] The Facebook Places feature was unveiled a year ago and let users “check-in” to various places. Many saw this as a serious threat to other social location services like Foursquare and Gowalla because Facebook has an incredible number of users. But back in October, you could already see that the feature wasn’t catching on, with only 6% of users trying the service. [...]

  • http://ralphbarbagallo.com/2011/08/23/is-location-dying/ Is Location Dying? « Ralph Barbagallo's Self Indulgent Blog

    [...] kind of bewildering. Pundits complain that only %6 of Facebook users used Places. But %6 of 700 million users is roughly 3-4X Foursquare’s entire user base. It’s really not [...]

  • http://www.megasoul.net/2011/08/is-location-dying-%c2%ab-ralph-barbagallos-self-indulgent-blog/ Is Location Dying? « Ralph Barbagallo’s Self Indulgent Blog | MegaSoul

    [...] kind of bewildering. Pundits complain that only %6 of Facebook users used Places. But %6 of 700 million users is roughly 3-4X Foursquare’s entire user base. It’s really not [...]

  • http://www.theclinegroup.com/2011/08/25/this-week%e2%80%99s-online-marketing-news-headlines/ The Cline Group » Blog Archive » This Week’s Online-Marketing News Headlines

    [...] notifications of your friends “checking in” at various physical locations. Or, maybe not – only 6% of Facebook users have reportedly been using the application. As a result (I assume), Facebook has announced that it [...]

  • http://boza-agency.com/blog/2011/08/farewell-to-facebook-places/ Farewell to Facebook Places | The Boza Agency

    [...] Stats indicating Facebook places inevitable fall:   But by October you could already see that the feature wasn’t catching on, with only 6% of Facebook users trying the service. [...]

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