Facebook Places: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Facebook Places has been out and about for the past few weeks now. Many of us have used it (or at least tried out out and turned it off), and there are definitely some good things, some bad things, and some downright ugly things about it.

The Good
The first weekend after Facebook Places launched, I went home for a visit. My newly iPhone-d mother wanted to tell me all about this new tool she found, where she could share where she was with all of her friends. Now, I had tried to convince her to use Foursquare, but I was her only Facebook friend using the tool.

For her, Facebook Places has some serious value with its built in audience. For me, that group was already on Foursquare, so Places is a redundant tool. Different audiences, different needs. Places definitely fills a gap.

The Bad
As with any Facebook product roll out, there are downsides. For businesses, the process of claiming, measuring and moderating venues is incredibly labor-intensive. Facebook requires scanned documentation of a Better Business Bureau accreditation or Articles of Incorporation to even claim a business, and owners with multiple locations currently have no way to bulk claim or integrate their many venues.

For users, the interface is pretty rigid. You can add a venue and comment on your check-in, but you can't leave tips, earn badges, become mayor or share with other social networks. For many users, these extensions make these geolocation applications more useful, and the elements of competition keep them engaged.

The Ugly
Well, look at it:

If someone checks me in with them, it posts twice. Plus, there's no option to check-in "off the grid" or to share with certain friends.

What do you think so far? Is Facebook Places mostly good, bad or ugly?