Let Friends Know Where You Are with Facebook Places

By Carolyn Abram from Facebook For Dummies, 4th Edition

Facebook Places works like this: when you go someplace using your Facebook app or Facebook Mobile, you choose from a list of possible locations. These might be restaurants or parks or buildings. Facebook generates this list based on the location it’s getting from your phone. When you select a location, you check in to that location. Checking in basically means actively telling Facebook that you’re there. Facebook won’t share your location unless you check in.

You can tag friends in your check-ins, or add photos or a few words about what’s going on. After you’ve checked in, your friends can see where you are in their News Feeds. If they’re out and about and also using Facebook on their phones, they can see if they are near you.

Checking in to Places leads to all sorts of nice serendipitous encounters. To check in from your iPhone, follow these steps:

From your Facebook screen, tap Check In in the upper right corner of the screen.

This brings up a list of nearby places. These places may range from official businesses (Peet’s Coffee) to people’s homes (Carolyn and Eric’s Place) to shared spaces (Dolores Park, San Francisco Airport Terminal 2).
Tap the name of the place you’d like to check in to.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for, type in the name of the place you want to check in to and search for it. If it’s not found, Facebook brings you to the Add a Place page, and you can click Add to add the place to the list.
(Optional) Type a comment into the Check In box.

The Check In screen appears. Check-ins with comments tend to feel a lot like status updates, with a little additional information.
(Optional) Tap the Tag Friends link to tag friends.

This brings up your list of friends. Tap the ones you want to tag. Remember, some people are very private about their location information, so it’s considered appropriate to ask people before you tag them. Tap Done when you’re done tagging.
Tap the Post button.

This officially marks you as “here.” The check in is added to your Wall as activity. Your friends can see it in their News Feeds, where they can comment or Like your check in, or maybe even pop by to say hi.