Facebook Adds Find Friends Nearby To Mobile Apps

Facebook has a new feature that iOS and Android users can now start to take advantage of called Find Friends Nearby. Originally dubbed "Friendshake", the feature allows you to see friends who are nearby, as well as potential friends, provided they're also using Find Friends Nearby. The new feature is primarily aimed at those meeting people for the first time who want to quickly add details to Facebook.

Ryan Patterson, an engineer for Facebook, designed the app at a hackathon event to easily exchange contact information. Rather than hunting for specific names, which can result in finding the wrong people or entering typos, Find Friends Nearby allows both users to log into and see each others details easily and quickly.

The feature has bigger implications too. Rather than just finding people in the immediate area, Facebook could add additional features that that allow you to find people with similar interests, or maybe find friends of friends. Highlight is an app launched at SXSW that has the same functionality already, but Facebook integrating the same features would help command a much larger audience.

There's two ways to use the new feature. The first is by going to a mobile webpage found at http://fb.com/ffn, and the second is by digging through the iOS and Android app menus. Users need to go to Menu -> Apps -> Find Friends -> Other Tools, then tap on Find Friends Nearby.

[via TechCrunch]