Facebook Places: Top 5 Social Blunders In Your Future

Yesterday Facebook launched Facebook Places, the long-awaited mobile platform that will let you see the real-time locations of your Facebook friends.

Facebook Places will create as many opportunities for social mishaps as it will for social meetups. Here are some of the potential pitfalls to watch out for, and how to avoid them.

1. The ruined blow-off: If you reject someone for a date on Friday by saying you’re going out of town for the weekend, you’ll have to make sure you don’t get tagged at a concert downtown on the night in question.
Solution: The minute you reject a date, set a calendar reminder for yourself so you can make sure to steer clear of Facebook Places on the night you’re supposed to be out of town.

2. The house party gone wrong: If you’re having a party at your house, some jackass could make it public on Places, raise a rally call and turn the place into a overrun madhouse.
Solution: Since Facebook Places is a mobile app and users will set locations on their phones, place a bowl by the front door and make everyone chuck their phones in it on the way in.

3. Busted by the parents: If you’re still in high school, Facebook Places is like having a homing device around your neck. If you say you’re sleeping at Sally’s, don’t get spotted on Places by your parents at 1am at that club in the city.
Solution: The default setting for Places will let only your Facebook friends view your location. Don’t be friends with your parents on Facebook. It’s unacceptable to be friends with your parents on Facebook until you turn 35, at which point it becomes endearing.

4. Punked!: For all the huffing and puffing about “burglars” being able to see that you’re not home and coming to rob you, getting burgled via Facebook seems unlikely. Most people will use the default “friends only” setting, so random burglars won’t be able to monitor your activity. What does seem more likely is the prank: If you and your roommates are all friends with the same pranksters, they’ll be able to see that your house is empty. That’s how you end up coming home to a living room covered in toilet paper and a bag of poop on your doorstep.
Solution: If you and your roommates have particularly prank-prone friends and you’re all going to be out at the same time, make sure at least one of you logs out of Places—that way the pranksters won’t be able to know for sure that your house is empty.

5. The ruined sick day: We’re allotted more “sick days” at our jobs than we actually get sick, and most of us use these as choice opportunities to blow off work for the day. When you’re out having your Ferris Bueller moment, make sure your boss doesn’t spot you out on the town, whooping it up while you’re supposed to be home sick.
Solution: The minute you call in sick, log out of Places and set your Facebook status to something like, “Sick—can’t stop drinking orange juice.” Extra credit: when you’re out joyriding in the borrowed Ferrari, leave the phone at home, logged into Facebook Places so your boss can keep a watchful eye, assured that you’re getting your rest and gearing up for a big day at the office tomorrow.