Facebook is testing out some new cards to offer users more information

May 15, 2014 09:42 GMT  ·  By

Facebook collects a ton of data from its users and mixes things up to create some interesting things, although some may call this effort “creepy.”

The social network is playing around with a new feature in its iOS app that will put all this data to good use by displaying relevant information when you check in at a location, attach songs, movies or friends to status updates.

If you go out and check in at a local bar, for instance, Facebook could tell you which of your friends have been there, display photos taken there, and more. At the same time, if you make a personal post saying that the latest episode of your favorite TV show was awesome, Facebook could let you know which other friends of yours have appreciated the show.

These new cards designed for mobile users can help people discover more about the places they travel to or spark more interaction via the social platform.

Basically, Facebook tries to provide a similar service to what many other companies offer. For instance, it looks like Foursquare, since the tool has been sending back info about the locations that people check in at for a long time. Of course, the company could also follow in Foursquare’s footsteps and introduce some ads right next to these check-in details. This would, of course, make investors quite happy since they’re always rooting for Facebook to find more ways to monetize the platform, especially the mobile one.

At the same time, when it comes to the rest of the features, it acts like Google Now, which gives you more data about the places you visit, or the things you search for on Google.

However, there are also some obvious differences between what Facebook does and what Foursquare and Google do. The main one is the fact that Facebook mainly provides you with data from your friends and seeks to create more discussion on the platform.

Facebook’s new cards come in color codes. For instance, if it’s the birthday of any of your friends, they’ll be displayed in blue, while location-themed cards come in red.

The cards related to photographs are displayed in yellow, while those about the activities of your friends, such as ones telling you that your friends enjoyed the same movie as you, are marked with green.

The feature is merely a test at the moment, but if there’s enough engagement, this could become permanent and could possibly cross over to Android devices as well.