Yesterday Facebook launched Places. Facebook users can “check in” real world places on their smartphone. The idea is that you’ll be able to know where you’re friends are, get notified if they’re close by, and receive messages your friends left at a location sometime in the past.
If your familiar with Foursquare or Gowalla, you know the concept.
This is very important to tourism operators. Why? Because it’s word-of-mouth on the go. People ‘check into’ places (your business) to let their friends know and leave comments (reviews) about their experience.
When visiting a restaurant, a friend might have left a virtual message to recommend the ravioli. When visiting a bar, another friend might decide to also go.
People will also use it to find place to go and things to do. Because Facebook is creating a huge database of all possible ‘places’ people go in the process. What that will lead to can only be imagined, but watch out Google Maps, Yelp or maybe even Tripadvisor.
You can claim your ‘place’. This guide in the Facebook Help Centre explains how. If you already have a fanpage, you can merge it with your places page. Your fan/places page will now include a map with your location and ‘check-ins’ from people. Right now you can only claim your place when you’re in the US, but that should change soon.
