Facebook Just Killed Places

Remember Places, the Facebook Foursquare clone feature you probably didn't use? I say probably, because Facebook just axed it entirely, BI reports, admitting inevitable defeat in the check-in war. It's about time!

Although Faces popped up on the old news feed intermittently, its presence (and use) was minuscule compared compared to who it was going after: Foursquare. Places was simply superfluous. People interested in checking in were likely already using Foursquare to accomplish it, and if they wanted their FB buddies to know about it, integration was possible. So it just sat there, unnecessary, awkward, a quiet second fiddle. And now it's on the ash heap with Loopt. Does Loopt even still exist? Not that it matters.

If you want to add your location to a status update, you can still do so manually, but if we weren't doing it with a dedicated button, I have a feeling the former won't take off either. [Facebook via BI via Betabeat]