14 DAY TRIAL // Buried among the big number of updates and tweaks Facebook unleashed was the fact that it is dropping the Places feature and instead baking location into everything it does. One thing that is also getting de-emphasized are the checkins which, while they won't be gone altogether from the get go, are on the way out, at least in their current form.
"Now you can add location to anything. Lots of people use Facebook to talk about where they are, have been or want to go," Facebook explained.
"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. Of course, you can always choose not to add location at all," it added.
"As a part of this, we are phasing out the mobile-only Places feature. Settings associated with it are also being phased out or removed," it announced.
Facebook may be getting rid of places and the checkin, good news for Foursquare and company, but it's definitely not giving up on location.
In fact, it's becoming more important than ever, the only change is that Facebook will treat location more like a tag than anything else.
For example, you can add a location to any of your existing photos, great for vacation pics, for example. Or you can tag a location to a status update, letting friends know where you are or where you plan to go to.
Once the feature is rolled out to everyone, users will notice a location button next to anything they post. What's more, users will be able to control who sees the location along with the new sharing controls for every type of content they post.
In a sense, Facebook is taking Twitter's approach to location. That said, location tags never really caught on with the Twitter crowd, not that Facebook Places was incredibly popular either.