Facebook introduces new location sharing feature to Messenger

Facebook has now introduced a simpler method of sharing your location in Messenger. Compared to the previous technique of simply sharing one’s information about their location, users can now send a map of their whereabouts via a message. The new feature is very similar to the way users share their locations in Google Hangouts. According to Facebook, you will need to simply tap the More icon or the location pin at the bottom of your screen in Messenger, if you wish to tell a friend which restaurant to meet you at. You can search for the restaurant and send a map of where it is located. For late comers, users can also send a map of where they are to their friends and let them know as to how far away they are. Locations can only be shared via these messages and Facebook says, no new permissions are needed to activate the new sharing option. This news comes forward shortly after Facebook decided to **pull down Marauder’s Map** Chrome extension that showed a user’s Facebook friends’ exact whereabouts. Aran Khanna, a Facebook intern, had created the tool. For some time, users who downloaded the Chrome extension gained access to a map that pinpointed the location of their friends (who were using Facebook Messenger) on a map that popped up in Facebook with scary precision. While Marauder’s Map accessed Messenger data, the way it precisely surfaced all the information raised serious questions regarding user’s privacy. According to a report by Mashable, as Messenger evolves and bakes in more features, all in a bid to ratchet up user base and engagement, it’s likely we’ll see the app use location in other ways. Users might one day be able to share their location and transition over to say, Uber and Lyft, to hail a ride with that location pre-set as their destination.