WASHINGTON: Social networking giant Facebook is testing a new feature that would allow users to connect more easily by logging on to a page on the site that shows people nearby.
Ryan Patterson, the Facebook engineer who built the feature, named 'Find Friends Nearby' told TechCrunch that he and a colleague wanted to make it easier to connect with people you have just met.
"I built Find Friends Nearby with another engineer for a hackathon project. For me, the ideal use case for this product is the one where when you're out with a group of people whom you've recently met and want to stay in contact with," the Telegraph quoted Patterson, as saying.
"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," he added.
The feature does not show all of your friends who are nearby.
Only those who have the page open are listed, meaning that attendees at a conference, for example, could connect to each other quickly by all visiting the page.
Ryan Patterson, the Facebook engineer who built the feature, named 'Find Friends Nearby' told TechCrunch that he and a colleague wanted to make it easier to connect with people you have just met.
"I built Find Friends Nearby with another engineer for a hackathon project. For me, the ideal use case for this product is the one where when you're out with a group of people whom you've recently met and want to stay in contact with," the Telegraph quoted Patterson, as saying.
"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," he added.
The feature does not show all of your friends who are nearby.
Only those who have the page open are listed, meaning that attendees at a conference, for example, could connect to each other quickly by all visiting the page.
To access the service one has to log on to the page, give Facebook permission to use your location and wait for the search to determine who else is nearby.
It is, however, unclear how close somebody has to be to count as 'nearby'.
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