Facebook very recently introduced its recent Places Feature. Created to function like Gowalla and Foursquare, Facebook ‘Places’ enables users to check-in regardless of their location per time.

Check-Ins and Places – What are They?

The use of SmartPhone has increased in popularity. The access to social networking sites has taken a new turn with the increasing popularity of these mobile devices. A novel practice that is fast catching up among smart phone users is that they remain connected to their social network even when they are out, or when they are on the move, They make known their whereabouts to the network community. Specialized social networks which are relatively new, allow users to ‘check-in’ with the GPS of the phone to find location, and subsequently mark the location to make it easy for friends to find them.

The top popular location-based social network is Foursquare. It monitors users check-in history so that the system can compensate people who visit a particular place frequently - by designating them the location’s mayor. A lot of businesses are marketing their brands through this feature already, offering rewards to those that check-in at their location, as well as those who become their mayor.

And Now the Big One – Facebook Places!

The Facebook ‘Places’ is a feature that enables Facebook users to check-in, regardless of where they are. For this purpose, a great number of famous locations are named ‘Places’.

The exciting news regarding the introduction of ‘Places’ by Facebook is that, it is very likely for Facebook to introduce the check-ins feature into the mainstream. The size of Facebook users is far larger than that of Gowalla and Foursquare as well as other sites that have been providing this service till date.

As at the moment, it seems that a huge number of people are not yet using Facebook Places; however, this feature has great potential for attracting a large number of people in the nearest future.

Laying Hold of Your Facebook Places

Presently, Facebook ‘Places’ seems to be attracting people o a lesser scale; but in the nearest future, it would translate into an essential promotional medium, especially for certain business types. It is really great to lay hold of your business’ Place, at least to prevent others from falsely taking over the location. If you are a compatible mobile device user, this would be the easiest to do. Either Facebook app or touch.facebook.com would do.

To start with, look for your business’s Facebook Place. Once you locate it, watch out for a link below that reads thus; "Is this Facebook Place Page your Business?" Perhaps there is no Place Page for your business yet, if so, visit your location to check-in and from there you will find an option to create your business’s Place. If you already have a Place, click on "Is this your business Link", and continue with your verification. Bear in mind that you will be required to provide evidence of ownership of the location. According to Facebook, you can achieve this via phone. After claiming your place, you can edit your profile image, address, contact information, business hours as well as other settings.

Very soon, Facebook Places is going to become an essential avenue for business promotion!