Facebook Scraps Creepy New App One Day After Premiere

Since it's debut eight years ago, Facebook has made the world smaller and smaller. Eventually, we may all be able to know where everyone is all the time. Facebook's new "Find Friends Nearby" app seemed to be a step in that direction.

But, now that it's been removed, we'll never know. It wasn't heavily promoted upon its debut Sunday due to some kinks that needed work, but frequent Facebook users (read: addicts) who likely scan the social media behemoth on a daily basis could have found it.

"Find Friends Nearby," when activated by folks within reasonably close proximity to one another, would have enabled the Facebook user to see all these people--even if they're not friends. For business networking, I could see the value. But I can also see it as another tool for stalkers.

When the Internet went mainstream in the 90s, it was an exciting instrument for learning and for accessing information--much like television in the late 40s and early 50s. But the worst elements of our society quickly employed its convenience and scope for their own repugnant purposes.

The same can be said, in my opinion, for Facebook. In its early years it was a boon to networking and reconnecting with folks you thought you may never see or hear from again. And it's now assumed a how-did-we-get-by-without-it relevance and may even surpass our perception of the Internet, itself.

But, LIKE the Internet--and in some ways worse than the Internet--Facebook has become a tool for stalking and skulking.  I've had people, who use pseudonyms in the their profiles, leave me messages indicating they like my pictures. Yet, I have no idea who THEY are.

Anyone who knows me knows that stalkers give me the creeps. Right now, I'm a bit nervous wondering what any of these types of people might glean from this blog.

So why on earth would I have wanted to activate something called "Find Friends Nearby" when that very act would have shown anyone within a certain radius exactly where I am--even strangers?

Well, that feature is gone just as quickly as it came. I don't know if it was a privacy issue or what--and that DOES seem to be the speculation--but it's something I feel we absolutely did not need.