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Facebook quietly kills off check-ins as Foursquare outpaces Places

Location to be linked to status updates

Facebook quietly kills off check-ins as Foursquare outpaces Places
With little fanfare, Facebook has revealed the next updates to its line of mobile apps will do away with its Places feature – the social network's check-in tool, which squared up against Foursquare and co. in August 2010.

Users will still be able to link status updates to their location, but they'll know longer be able to check-in at specific venues.

Can't quite Place it

It's quite a turn around for the location-based apps market, which openly welcomed Facebook's entry into the check-in game almost a year ago to the day, despite the assessment of many that the social network would blow all existing location tools out of the water.

However, stats released by many of Facebook's rivals revealed check-ins on their respective networks actually rose after the roll out of Places – Foursquare's check-ins shot up 3,400 percent in 2010, despite Facebook's intrusion.

According to Foursquare's last batch of statistics, it now boasts 10 million users – a far smaller number than the estimated 700 million registered with Facebook, but a dedicated audience nonetheless.

New direction

Facebook, however, denies that it is pulling out of the location game altogether.

Instead, it alleges it's revising its approach to better meet the needs of its audience.

"We've learned a lot since launching Places," a Facebook spokesperson said of the move.

"The core insight is that most people on Facebook think about location as part of their everyday experience. The Places check-in feed on the mobile app will go away and now a 'place' becomes another descriptor to add to any post."

[source: Metro]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.