To test out the feature, go to fb.com/ffn in a browser, or follow this path in the Facebook's mobile apps: menu > apps > find friends > other tools > Find Friends Nearby.
Surprise! Teens are sneaky online
It appears that Facebook users must opt in to the feature by going to that site, otherwise their profiles will not appear in a list of people who are nearby.
The blog TechCrunch first reported on the feature Sunday after a non-Facebook developer tipped off the site to the feature's existence. In a comment on that site's post about the new feature, Facebook developer Ryan Patterson, who says he developed Find Friends Nearby, described how he hopes the app will be used:
"For me, the ideal use case for this product is the one where when you're out with a group of people whom you've recently met and want to stay in contact with. Facebook search might be effective, or sharing your vanity addresses or business cards, but this tool provides a really easy way to exchange contact information with multiple people with minimal friction."
A Facebook spokeswoman declined to provide additional information.
"We are constantly testing new features but have nothing more to share at this time," she wrote in an e-mail to CNN.
Reactions to the news were mixed in the tech blogosphere.
The site Gizmodo finds the new feature to be potentially useful -- and dangerous.
"You meet a cute somebody at a concert, you're like, 'Hey, we should be Facebook friends,' and they're like 'OMG, totes!' Then rather than having to spell your names and search around, you've got a much smaller group of people to choose from. I guess that's great, right?" Brent Rose writes on that tech news site.
