Where Are You?

I am Facebook savvy. I can untag a photo in a split second or send a message while standing in line at the grocery store. On the off chance my friends and family are even remotely interested, I update my status regularly. At the very least I post my blog. So please help me understand why I'll need the new Places on Facebook. Will I check in at the grocery store? From the Farmer's Market, the cleaners, dentist, the recyclers, or my kitchen? Those are the places I am most likely to be. I don't hope to run into people I know there. I just want to complete my errands and tasks.

Let's pretend for a moment my life takes a more exciting twist and I am at a fabulous new restaurant. Won't I want to savor my food and enjoy the company of my companions? Or is the pressure to have a life viewable at all times on Facebook going to force me to check in with Places. Also, since I am now on my smart phone checking in, might as well post a picture of our dining experience and critique the food.

I am at the movies. Time to check in and discover if anyone I know is there with Facebook Places. Not really. If I wanted to go to the movies with them, I would have called to arrange it. I can see the appeal for the high school crowd roaming in herds at the mall or movies. They haven't yet developed the anti social gene, the need to be with the one you love or are with at the moment only while on say, a date.

A friend reminded me while reading this original post that "You are forgetting that you are a woman of a certain age (that's because my certain age is old so I tend to forget). PLACES is designed for the on-the-move 20 somethings hopping from club to club. Sloth like friends are trying to catch up with them, or the scene at the intended destination is not hot, so the party is in motion to another spot. This app is not for you…". She is quite right, of course.

As an avid Facebook user and to extend the user age range, may I suggest Places add the following for our ease of use: Knitting on my own couch, cleaning the bathroom (location, home), visiting a fantastic garden (watering my own yard), walker rental supply house, check in unavailable due to restroom use, at the kitchen sink rinsing, laundry room sorting, stepped outside my front door but changed my mind and went back inside, and on the phone. These are automated status updates I could really use. However, if my friends start using them I will be forced to remove them from my news feed and for the worst offenders actually unfriend them!

Today, with my app update, Places has been added to my Facebook page on my phone. It has not yet activated in my area. That's right, I had to give it a try. It is there and the compulsion to not miss something that could be fun took over. So I'll give it a try when it gets up and running near me. Until then I remain a cynic, while reserving the right to completely do a u-turn on my opinion.

As fun and useful as our smart phones are, some etiquette should be established. Perhaps Miss Manners could publish a new phone app entitled "Apps & When They Are Appropriate". It could have a chapter on safety so as to avoid getting hit by a car while crossing a street and messaging at the same time. A chapter covering how to adjust the volume of your ring tone, notifications, and alerts so as to not wake babies in three counties.

I digress. With Places, I can share in real time where I am and discover if other friends have checked in there recently. Perhaps they'll cover the dinner tab. It's worth a try.