Facebook's 'Find Friends Nearby' -- Good Idea, Needs Work

Still, the fact that anyone can show up on the list -- even complete strangers -- could make for creepy encounters. That may explain why Facebook isn't giving this new feature a lot of promotion yet. There's been no official announcement about it, it's buried pretty deeply within Facebook's mobile apps.

Find Friends Nearby needs more prominent billing to be useful, but putting this feature front and center might scare people away if they'd be visible to strangers. Facebook must tread carefully with this feature, and find a way to execute Patternson's idea -- that is, replace the business card with a Facebook exchange -- without causing privacy concerns. For now, the company has done the right thing (surprise, surprise) by keeping a low profile for Find Friends Nearby.

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