- What is Facebook Places?
- How to Check In the Smart Way
- Being Smart with Facebook Places
- Facebook Places for Business
How to Check In the Smart Way
This all sounds goodbut how do you actually use it? After all, checking in to a location isn’t even available on the main Facebook website.
Along with the mechanics of using Facebook Places, there are some netiquette issues (online etiquette, that is) with Places as well. After all, as much fun as it is to share location information, in some cases it can be embarrassing. Checking in, or having someone else check you in, even runs the risk of making other friends, a significant other, or a boss angry. It can even potentially alert thieves that you’re not home.
So, along with some how to steps, I’ve included some netiquette tips in the following.
- First, you'll need to decide how you want to go about checking in. Your choices are:
- Use an appon most smartphones, including the iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry, Facebook offers an app that includes a Places tab. That’s where you check in. Third parties also offer apps that check you in with just one or two taps onscreen.
- Use the Facebook Touch site. On the iPad, a portable computer, or a phone that doesn’t have an app, go to the Facebook mobile site at touch.facebook.com. (Don’t be embarrassed if you hadn’t figured this out. It’s not obvious, and Facebook doesn’t make an iPad app – they want you to use the mobile site instead.)
- Tag your friends. Tag your friends before you check in; there’s no easy way to add them afterward. Ask them first; they may not want their location publicized. To add friends after the fact, or to tag late-arriving friends, check in again.
- Add the place. If you’re in a location that isn’t already a Facebook place, add it by clicking the Add button, then enter a description. Facebook will save the description and location for people to use later. If you’re at a personal residence, though, don’t enter the resident’s names – and ask them before adding their location at all.
- Like the Place. If you like the place, tap the Like button. This makes you a follower of the place’s Facebook updates, of course, but you can always unlike it later.
- Check in. Tap the Check-in button. A few seconds will pass, then you’ll be checked in.
- See who else is there. Look in the “Here Now” area after you check in to see if you recognize anyone else there.
- Look for Deals. Look for a Deal logo, and, if you have time and interest, check it out. Share the Deal with friends too. You want to encourage your favorite merchants to keep offering Deals, and using and sharing Deals is the best way to do it.