Feeling housebound by Facebook addiction? Facebook just released “Suggested Events,” which uses your own check-in information to point out events you might want to go to in the real world.
Suggested Events replaces the old Friends Events menu choice that was there before. We’re not seeing this new Suggested Events feature on all our accounts — it might have something to do with whether you’ve checked in anywhere yet on Facebook, or it could be another Facebook slow rollout — but if you’re one of the lucky ones so far, here’s how to access it:
Go to your Facebook Home page, and on the left side, click on Events. As usual, different events that are coming up will display on the right side of your screen.
But if you look underneath Events, there’s a new menu choice called “Suggested Events.” Click on that, and you’ll see a list of suggested events for later this week, next week, and on into the following months.
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So Facebook will be using information it's gathered about you to suggest more places to go? This is the kind of feature that might be considered "creepy" by some users, but others will welcome the suggestions that might actually have something to do with places you've been -- or places you're interested in going.
Anything to get us out of the house and away from all the screens can't be bad in my book. Oh wait, will Suggested Events be available on the iOS and Android Facebook apps? We've contacted Facebook to find out, and will let you know. In the meantime, how do you like this new feature?
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[Update: Facebook tells me it is testing the feature, though it has now been rolled out to the entire user base. A spokesperson also says suggestions can be based on the music you listen to through Open Graph apps, which can help improve recommendations for those who checkin via Foursquare or don't share their location at all.]
By promoting offline interaction, Suggested Events should quiet critics who say Facebook weakens real human relationships and leads people to sit at home. It has huge potential to generate good will for Facebook and make the service seem even more indispensable. If you go to a great show, have a fun night out with friends, or meet someone new at a suggested venue, your perception of Facebook’s value to your life will undoubtedly improve.
If you go to lots of concerts, and Facebook effectively knows this because you check in to the venues or the events themselves thanks to a mobile feature added last year (possibly to collect data for this). Now, Suggested Events recommends me concerts taking place at my favorite venues. The music industry stands to gain a lot from the feature, since concerts are thrown frequently, and occur at Places people commonly check in to.
NOTE: In order for event check-in to work, and you do not presently subscribe to a location-based check-in service like foursquare, you must be subscribed to Facebook Places, which is a location-based check-in service app for your iPhone, iPad and Android phones (not available for regular BlackBerry phones). You need to have the Facebook Places app turned on, so that your mobile device knows your GPS location. Once turned on, Facebook Places will list a list of events. If you want to know more about a specific event, you click the CHECK-IN button for that event (see below)
If you’re in college, Suggested Events might recommend parties at campus dorms, whereas professionals might get clued in to meetups or conferences at local convention halls they visit. The feature also alerts you to Events hosted by Pages you Like, which could encourage more venues, performers, or production companies to officially host the events they throw. One day the feature might be able to show events where a band I Like was mentioned in the description.
With third-party apps you enter your preferences or upload them via Facebook Connect, but then also have to remember to visit. Facebook’s new native event discovery feature makes finding fun things to do a seamless part of every day browsing. That means more outings, more moments, more memories. And you know where you can display the photos, checkins, and status updates about those memories? Timeline.
CAUTION: Facebook users should be aware that Facebook is a front for the CIA and used extensively by the NSA, Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies like the FBI to investigate and track your activities. You certainly don't want these agencies to know your physical whereabouts through your cell phone running their Facebook Places app. As I write this, Facebook is being investigated by a Congressional committee on internet privacy for tracking you by your cell phone even when its not turned on. Once these bastards know your whereabouts, including where you check-in, who your friends are, they can build a profile around your daily routine, can even predict what you are going to do next. So, even though Facebook's Suggested Events seems like a wonderful new feature, it could be used against you in a court of law.
Courtesy of an article dated December 22, 2011 appearing in Mashable
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