 No one showed up to your birthday party? Facebook wants to help you track down those jerks. I'm Ross Miller, and this is 90 Seconds on the Verge. Facebook today has begun rolling out a new opt-in feature for iOS and Android called Nearby Friends, which, as the name suggests, is all about seeing which of your friends are close by. This kind of social discovery is far from a new idea. In fact, several years ago, it was something of a trend with apps like Highlight, Sonar, and Glancy. They didn't catch on. One reason was technology, more specifically battery life. That's a simpler thing to fix, and one that Facebook believes will not be an issue this time. The bigger issue, however, was social. People don't want to share their exact locations because, well, that's creepy. That's why Nearby Friends is instead focusing on approximate locations, like neighborhoods. Users can then choose to share their precise location with a specific friend after a few clicks. Nearby Friends is a bit of a change in strategy for Facebook, which has lately been breaking its services apart into standalone apps like Paper for News and Messenger for Chat. Facebook clearly thinks of this as a defining feature, but it's also conflicted about how exactly to integrate it. And that confusion echoes Facebook's larger problem. It isn't just the Nearby part that's concerned. It's also Facebook's very broad definition of friends. Facebook also seems to know this and has designed Nearby Friends with curated lists in mind. Okay, so let's say you do activate Nearby Friends. You curate a list, and you get all your buddies to do the same. At the end of the day, do you really want an app actively tracking your location every 15 minutes? For more on Facebook, check out The Verge. Coming up, MySpace unveils its own People Discovery service. You about using MySpace? No?
 No one showed up to your birthday party?
 Facebook wants to help you track down those jerks.
 I'm Ross Miller, and this is 90 Seconds on the Verge.
 Facebook today has begun rolling out a new opt-in feature
 for iOS and Android called Nearby Friends,
 which, as the name suggests, is all about seeing
 which of your friends are close by.
 This kind of social discovery is far from a new idea.
 In fact, several years ago, it was something of a trend
 with apps like Highlight, Sonar, and Glancy.
 They didn't catch on.
 One reason was technology, more specifically battery life.
 That's a simpler thing to fix,
 and one that Facebook believes
 will not be an issue this time.
 The bigger issue, however, was social.
 People don't want to share their exact locations
 because, well, that's creepy.
 That's why Nearby Friends is instead focusing
 on approximate locations, like neighborhoods.
 Users can then choose to share their precise location
 with a specific friend after a few clicks.
 Nearby Friends is a bit of a change in strategy for Facebook,
 which has lately been breaking its services apart
 into standalone apps like Paper for News
 and Messenger for Chat.
 Facebook clearly thinks of this as a defining feature,
 but it's also conflicted about how exactly
 to integrate it.
 And that confusion echoes Facebook's larger problem.
 It isn't just the Nearby part that's concerned.
 It's also Facebook's very broad definition of friends.
 Facebook also seems to know this
 and has designed Nearby Friends
 with curated lists in mind.
 Okay, so let's say you do activate Nearby Friends.
 You curate a list, and you get all your buddies
 to do the same.
 At the end of the day, do you really want an app
 actively tracking your location every 15 minutes?
 For more on Facebook, check out The Verge.
 Coming up, MySpace unveils its own
 People Discovery service.
 You about using MySpace? No?