Facebook’s helpful new feature crowdsources advice for you

You can also control who sees your Recommendations posts, to ensure that only your most tasteful friends influence your decision

Aatif Sulleyman
Thursday 02 February 2017 11:03 EST
Comments
'Whether you're looking for a bakery or a barber shop, a veterinarian or a vacation rental, Recommendations helps you find it'
'Whether you're looking for a bakery or a barber shop, a veterinarian or a vacation rental, Recommendations helps you find it'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Facebook has launched Recommendations in the UK, making it easier for users to seek advice from their online friends.

The social network will automatically convert a status update or Group post it identifies as a request for advice into a Recommendation post, which your connections will be able to respond to with their own guidance and suggestions.

For instance, you could ask your friends to recommend a restaurant or a barber shop.

Just like a status update, you can also control who actually sees your Recommendations, to ensure that your least tasteful friends don't get the chance to influence your decision.

Simply open the dropdown menu to the left of the Post button, select More Options and Custom.

All of your friends’ comments will be laid out as a list, but you’ll also be able to view them on a map, to get a feel for how far you might need to travel.

“Whether you're looking for a bakery or a barber shop, a veterinarian or a vacation rental, Recommendations helps you find it,” said Facebook.

“Get exactly what you need from the friends who know you best. When your friends comment, we'll add extra details to their recommendations like reviews and addresses.”

Recommendations was launched in the US last year, and is available on both mobile and desktop.

It sounds far more appealing than Discover People, a feature currently in testing that encourages users to befriend people they don’t actually know.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in