From RT.com….
The multi-billion-dollar social media platform Facebook has announced the debut of a new super-local feature called “Neighborhoods,” aimed at challenging hyperlocal social media networks like Nextdoor and “making new friends.”
Rather than simply alerting friends halfway around the world to what their internet pen pals are doing, Facebook has vowed to inform nearby users via a new and improved algorithm if it thinks the pair might be compatible – a semi-creepy feature that could either cement actual friendships or foment algorithmic stalking.
However, product manager Reid Patton insists the new Facebook Neighborhoods will please the users by giving them extra information about their friends – in this case notifying the user exactly how the suggested friend might integrate into their inner friend circle.
The new platform has been loosely deployed across Canada, while its US pilot sites are located in Charlotte, San Diego, Baton Rouge, and Newark. The user needs to be over 18 years of age, and has to share their location with Facebook. They can then join both their apparent neighborhood and the nearby ones – once their area is offered access to a “Neighborhood Directory.”
