Want to view which of your friends are located in Washington, D.C. or another city? Too bad because it appears as though Facebook has removed that feature. While the company previously announced that they’d remove regional network privacy settings, it wasn’t clear that they were eliminating the ability to browse by region. In a guide that I previously wrote about Facebook friend lists, I explained how useful the ability to browse by network was.
With over 4,000 friends, finding people in given regions has now become impossible. So is Facebook removing regional features all together? Not necessarily. According to a recent email sent to me, Facebook has been testing out regional feed filters (as pictured in the image to the right). Having the ability to find friends based on their network was extremely useful when traveling. Prior to going somewhere, I often look at my friends in that area to see who I should get in touch with.
I’m currently reaching out to Facebook to see if they have in fact permanently removed the ability to find friends by region. If so, this has to be one of the worst ideas ever. I’ll update this post shortly with more information as we get it. Thanks to Julie Minevich for the tip!
Update
Facebook has referenced their June announcement about the removal of regional networks. At the time I hadn’t realized that regional networks would be gone for sorting through users as well. Seems kind of strange.
No, the entire redesign in March was the worst idea ever. But this one stinks, too.
Comment by Debra — July 30, 2009 @ 2:12 pm
The new city filter in the sidebar is actually much better than the old regional network filter for two major reasons ( at least for me )
1) far more people in my network have their city filled than have joined a regional network
2) the city filter is more granular and, therefore, much more accurate and useful
Comment by Colin Carmichael — July 30, 2009 @ 3:21 pm
But you can still get into a profile if you join the same region/network (if there account isn't private) so what's the difference?
Comment by Barry — July 30, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
Boo on Facebook. You're right on. The ability to find friends by region was a lifesaver.
Comment by Matt Pritchard — July 30, 2009 @ 10:21 pm
Could be useful to find someone if you don't know where on the planet he lives. A long lost friend or relative for example.
Comment by aildoux — July 31, 2009 @ 5:34 am
Totally. Whether traveling or planning a party invite list, getting a quick list of friends by region was one of the best features Fb offered. Senseless to remove it; it's not a privacy violation at all, as it's a search of your consenting friends!!
Comment by Adam Florin — July 31, 2009 @ 6:06 pm
“Browse Friends By Region” is the only reason I joined facebook. I have deactivated my account; there is no reason for me to be on it until they replace this feature.
Comment by Chrissy — August 2, 2009 @ 11:22 am
Facebook’s worst move yet since the redesign in September 2008! It makes no sense to take from us (the users) the ability to browsw our own facebook friends by region. Shame on whoever facebook employees thought this up!
Comment by Mikke — August 2, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
This makes me mad! I'm planning a trip and wanted to see who lives where I'm going, so I don't miss seeing people. Stupid move, facebook.
Comment by Levi Reeves — August 3, 2009 @ 10:11 am
I loved the 'Browse by Region' feature and it fact it was one of the main reasons I had for using Facebook – trying to keep track of friends and contacts who continually move, and figuring out who to connect with when traveling. I really hope Facebook brings back this feature or at least something equivalent. I also don't see how it could be a privacy violation.
Comment by Laura — August 3, 2009 @ 9:26 pm
This has effectively crippled my use of Facebook as I travel and I use to locate people in the cities that I am vistiting. What is wrong with Facebook? Why do they keep removing good features. I'm really annoyed.
Comment by Sara — August 4, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
Speaking of being annoyed…I saw this really funny article about facebook pet peeves. It's definitely worth a look…. http://livingwithballs.com/facebook-pet-peeves/
Comment by John — August 5, 2009 @ 7:33 am
Hey Colin Carmichael: Where is the city filter on the side bar? I can't find it.
Comment by Edward — August 13, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
Ya I was planning on taking a road trip but I can't really tell who is in the area anymore. Anyone have any ideas for finding out friends by region now that they took that feauture off?
Comment by Wes — August 15, 2009 @ 9:44 am
lame city. i feel cold & alone. this was so great for travelling. now i am left to Dopplr. guh!
Comment by Michael J Lambie — August 17, 2009 @ 11:46 pm
What kind of sorry-excuse-for-UI-designers do they have working over there?
Rule #1 of UI Design 101: NEVER REMOVE A USEFUL FEATURE WITHOUT GETTING CONSENT OF YOUR USERS
Comment by FTM — August 18, 2009 @ 7:11 pm
I also miss the old regional networks, however, a friend just let me know the function still exists, in a different form. Go to your profile, click on the 'see all' link next to your friends list, then 'browse', and then use the 'by city' on the pulldown menu. Not quite as easy as the old system, and it seems the cities in the list appear in no particular order, but this does help and at least will help people find out how many friends they now have in which cities.
Comment by Andrew — August 22, 2009 @ 8:46 am
Andrew – I don’t see “by city” on my pulldown menu (only College, Highschool, and Work). Any help?
Comment by Huh? — August 22, 2009 @ 8:32 pm
Im glad you put this up I was wondering what happenned to it, its so useful. this is bs
Comment by Geoffrey Dean — August 29, 2009 @ 4:59 am
Is there anyone we can contact to help rectify this situation? This is killing my main reason for Facebook!
Comment by Seth Levy — September 1, 2009 @ 2:37 pm
In truth, facebook is getting annoying anyway, but THIS is definitely NOT helping!!! Next time my friends go all ga-ga over the latest, trendy site, I'm going to employ the same tactic I use for over-hyped movies and WAIT untill all the fuss simmers down and decide for myself.
WHY, exactly, DID facebook disable the region locator?
Comment by joanna — September 9, 2009 @ 11:42 am
I cannot beleive they did this! I like adding not only friends I know but people from my city that I dont know. This is horrible. Its like saying you will only go out and talk to people you already know. That is stupid so ignore a new neighbor or someone at a store or at a club. Horrible
Comment by Michelle AndCarlos — September 30, 2009 @ 6:29 am
i have been try to add my region for more tham 3day,but not going .i think facebook need to reimbursed me for the strght lo!
Comment by FRED ADEYEMI — October 15, 2009 @ 9:36 pm
Face book stinks. You can't create a personal website there. And no music……………..COME BACK TO MYSPACE
Comment by rich — November 5, 2009 @ 8:37 am
I could have sworn I was able to browse my friends by city in January 2010, but alas, it is no longer possible.
Comment by Grunk — March 3, 2010 @ 4:49 pm
Why, why, why did Facebook take the browse by region ability?? I can't believe it! Bring it back…
Comment by Jackie — March 21, 2010 @ 9:47 am
Ten months on, they still haven't replaced this functionality. While I accept that the original implementation of regional networks was depressingly ill-thought-out, removing them without any kind of regional filtering to replace them was so stupid I was convinced they'd have replaced them by now.
Apparently not.
Anyone else feeling like facebook has become the George Lucas of social networking sites?
Comment by Fergus Ray Murray — April 18, 2010 @ 1:36 pm
i wanna connect up with my neighbors in texas
Comment by hahn — August 20, 2010 @ 12:50 am
This defeats the purpose of Facebook, it's useless if ur trying to FIND friends to reconnect with them, and you cannot filter the list by the cities you know they may be living in . . .
Comment by neville — April 4, 2011 @ 7:11 am