How to Use Facebook’s ‘Near Me’ feature to Find Friends in My Area

How to Use Facebook’s ‘Near Me’ feature to Find Friends in My Area

Friends may find out where you are using Facebook mobile’s “Nearby Friends” feature. It gives them the impression that you’re close by. This feature is readily available if you have the Facebook app installed on your phone (iPhone or Android). Nearby Friends is an opt-in feature, which means it is turned off by default. So, in this article, we’ll show you how to enable this function so that people in your area can contact you, and who knows, maybe a fantastic friendship can blossom as a result.

Let’s take a closer look at what “nearby friends” really means and how you can use it.

IN THE FACEBOOK MOBILE APP, HOW NEARBY FRIENDS WORKS

On the “More” option at the bottom of the Facebook app, you can find nearby friends. Nearby Friends can be found by clicking on the “more” button. You’ll be asked to turn it on if it’s turned off.

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll see a list of Nearby Friends, who are Facebook friends who have turned on the function as well. (This implies that not all of your friends will appear in this list.)

On the upper right, click the settings symbol (as in the screenshot above). You can select who can view your location from this menu. If you have Facebook lists, you can select to share your location with just that list, such as Close Friends, if you have one. As indicated on the left, the default is “Friends”; simply choose and then select from your available lists.

On the upper right, click the settings symbol (as in the screenshot above). You can select who can view your location from this menu. If you have Facebook lists, you can select to share your location with just that list, such as Close Friends, if you have one. As indicated on the left, the default is “Friends”; simply choose and then select from your available lists.

IN FACEBOOK, HOW TO DISABLE NEARBY FRIENDS

If you’ve tried Nearby Friends and determined it’s not for you, you can simply disable it. Toggle the slider to the left until it is no longer green (More tab > Nearby Friends > Settings).

Even if Nearby Friends is switched off, the app continues to collect a “history of your precise position even when you’re not using the app,” according to the little text on the screen. Take a look at the Location Settings if you think this is a little too much.

Slide the slider to the left to disable Location History on the Location Settings screen. Your previously saved history remains in your Activity Log. You can delete your history if you wish, even though this log is only visible to you (it is not shared with friends).

Click the “More” tab again to access the history log, then scroll all the way down to Activity Log. Select Location History (at the bottom of the list) from the Filter drop-down menu at the top. Once you’ve chosen, your activity will be restricted to just reveal location history. “Clear Location History” is the option to choose (shown here).

NEARBY FRIENDS AND TEENS

This would be a good opportunity to evaluate your teen’s Facebook Friends list if they use it. A large number of Facebook friends is more common among teenagers. Their friend list is more likely to be a collection of “random acquaintances.” Hundreds of people might be aware of their whereabouts. Unless they add friends carefully, they may be disclosing their general location to more individuals than you want (or they even realize).

 

This is an opt-in option, so discuss with your kid whether or not they should use it if they have Facebook on their phone. If they do, it’s probably a good idea to limit sharing to “Close Friends.”

 

What are your thoughts on the matter? Is this a good feature to implement? You may want to enable this option if you believe it will be valuable to you. Only if the majority of your friends use Facebook on the go and enable this function do I think it’s worthwhile. If you’re worried about sharing your location data with others – even friends – or don’t think you’ll ever use it, turn it off.