Facebook has entered the location-based social network market by adding a Places feature to its network. WaveMetrix analysis shows that consumers have reacted negatively to the feature, with privacy concerns dominating discussion.
Facebook Places is seen by many as a direct rival to Google Places, as it allows businesses to create a page for their specific location. The service allows Facebook users to check in at these locations and to share their whereabouts with friends.
WaveMetrix analysis shows that consumers are wary of the privacy implications involved with the new feature. Consumers also believe the new feature is more of a threat to Google than it is to Foursquare. People think that because Facebook Places works in conjunction with Foursquare, rather than in competition to it, people will continue to use the Foursquare service. Users think that Facebook will become the “central service” for location information at the expense of Google.
- Facebook Places adds location-based functionality to the world’s most popular social network: The new feature will allow users to share their location with Facebook users. Facebook users can ‘check in’ to specific locations using the places feature and tag their updates with a location. The whereabouts of the user is then shared with their friends
- Businesses can tell Facebook where they are located by creating a Facebook Places page: A business can claim a location on Facebook Places in the same way that they would for Google Places. Business owners must submit official documentation to prove they are located at their chosen location. This then creates a separate Facebook Places page for that business
- Facebook Places is integrated with other location-based services: When a user checks in with another location-based service, such as Foursquare or Gowalla, this check-in can be shared on Facebook Places without a separate check-in being required. The Facebook Places API is also being made available to social game developers, who will be able to create location based social games
- Places related information is shared by default: The sharing of Facebook Places information is an opt-out, rather than opt-in feature. This has led to a number of complaints by consumers and organisations that protect civil liberties, such as the ACLU
Our analysis shows that privacy concerns dominate buzz around the new Facebook feature:
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- Discussion is dominated by privacy issues, with most users concerned about personal security: Most users say that they don’t want their location and address shared in such a public forum. Many fear that the service is open for abuse by “burglars” and “stalkers”. Other users think that Facebook has gone “beyond its stated mission” and find the scale of its operations “disturbing”
- Many see Facebook Places as “pointless”: Users comment that Facebook is “developing into something we don’t need” and that Places will provide them with “useless” and “pointless” information. They say they do “not care one bit” about the location of most of their friends
- People think that the scale of Facebook will make the feature very useful: Users think that because a large number of people are likely to use the service, it will become “immediately successful”. Users say that “just about everyone” uses Facebook and that the Places feature will be “more valuable” than similar services because of the Facebook user base
WaveMetrix social media monitoring shows that when consumers talk about Facebook Places in relation to its competition, they see the feature as more of a threat to Google than to Foursquare:
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- People say that they will continue to use Foursquare: Many users prefer Foursquare because of its opt-in nature, strong privacy policy and because it is “more fun”. Users see the two services as being compatible, rather than being in direct competition
- Facebook Places is seen as direct competition to Google places: Most people say that Facebook is likely to dominate the location-based market because its users are “highly engaged”. One comments that “there is no way that Google will be able to compete with this”. People think that there is likely to be “one central service” for location based information, and that this is "likely" to be Facebook
WaveMetrix analysis shows that users are growing increasingly concerned about the scale of Facebook’s operations and about its aggressive privacy policy. However, as we showed with previous research, privacy concerns do not seem to be a significant barrier against usage. Indeed, some consumers do point out that Facebook's vast user base will contribute to the feature's success, indicating that privacy concerns may not be severe enough to blight the new venture.
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