Discover People: Facebook’s New Feature App

By Danielle Lapierre

Staff Reporter

Is Facebook becoming the new online matching medium?

Facebook has created ways for their users to stay connected with features such as Messenger.

One of the newest features they plan to have is “Discover People.” This matches Facebook users with other users they might want to be friends with.

The new feature will be located under the Explore tab on both the desktop and smartphone app. Should the user decide to engage in this feature, Facebook is given permission to use many aspects of their profile.

According to Mashable.com, “Discover People” accesses 25 different categories such as sports, food, networking, animals and pets, hobby & leisure and travel.

Some students find this new feature creepy and unsettling.

“Virtual reality needs to stop growing because it is getting weird,” said junior Estée Deschamps.

According to Forbes.com, Facebook has had some privacy concerns as of recently regarding issues of privacy settings that not all users understood. They later found out that much of their information has been public without their knowledge.

Facebook also had a feature called “People Nearby,” which gives out exact locations of its users.

It has since eliminated this feature, but the feature “Friends Nearby” is still available.

Tinder and Bumble are apps that also use your information and location to match you with people to talk to.

Many college students decide to start using these apps because they find it easier to meet people this way as opposed to in person.

“I like the idea and feel it would be a better feature for college students and you can make friends going into your years at school,” said sophomore Chrissie Wojciechowski.

One feature in “Discover People” is matching your interests to certain events around your area.

These events also include lists and profiles of the people going. A user can see who is attending and can friend request and connect with others in this event.

Many students think that the feature is a good idea if you’re looking to meet people around campus.

“I would use it to meet new people at school, but I probably wouldn’t use it at home or anywhere else,” said Wojciechowski.

Other students feel that the feature would work best if they were looking to meet people who are outside of the campus area.

“I feel like at Sacred Heart everyone kind of knows everybody so it would be cool to see that someone likes something the way I do,” said junior Gabrielle Diaz. “It is kind of creepy though.”

According to TechCrunch.com, Facebook has been testing “Discover People” exclusively in Australia and New Zealand since last year.

They have plans to bring the feature to the United States sometime in 2017.

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