Facebook recently announced a Foursquare-like service called Facebook Places.  If you are like me and don’t want to use it, then you have to disable it.

In order to disable it you need to go into your privacy settings under the account tab on the right hand side of your home page.  From there you need to select Custom for your settings.  Now you need to click the customize settings link and set the Places I check in to setting to only me by customizing it in to dropdown menu and saving.  Next, uncheck Include me in “People Here Now” after I check in.  Scroll down to the things others share and disable Friends can check me in to Places.

There you go, now Facebook Places is disabled.

A Facebook representative had this to say:

…we are constantly testing new ideas, including the placement of various features. One of these recent tests included variations of the delete account option for a very small percentage of people.

No screenshot yet from the small percentage of people, but we expect to see them soon.

As a beta tester, your job will be to ask great questions and provide great answers about your favorite topics. Economics? Skydiving? Relationships? Mexican Restaurants? It’s up to you. You’ll be the first person outside of Facebook to use this product. Your expert writing will be seen by tens of millions of people — including job recruiters. And we’ll bring our best beta testers out to California to tour Facebook headquarters and meet the team.

On a side bar I think this is a good idea because I always read mixed reviews about new Facebook services and I think a predetermined set of beta testers will help deal with the negative aspects of an update before its final launch. But back to the main topic.

You can apply via the simple “Apply to be a beta tester” link on the right side of the page. Once you click this link you will be give an application of sorts. You get to choose three questions to answer. There are some suggestions but they are not required. It’s an interesting concept, but one that will most likely lead to Facebook getting a superb group of beta testers. Here are some of the suggested questions.

Choose provocative questions. Write about things you know. Some examples:

• • How can I get over my fear of flying?
  • What are some fun family activities to do with two small children on the weekend?
  • What caused the U.S. stock market to crash in 2008?
  • What’s the secret to throwing a great housewarming party?
  • What are the main differences between Google Chrome and Internet Explorer?
  • What are women looking for in a relationship?
  • What methods has BP tried to clean up the oil spill?
  • What should I do to prepare for the Bar exam?
  • How did The Beatles find success?

And here is some information about answering the questions.

Write detailed, articulate answers.

• • Where relevant, cite and link to third-party sources such as Wikipedia.
  • Your answer must be original. Plagiarism is unacceptable.

For the application you have to “Enter three interesting questions with detailed answers (see example). If we approve, we’ll send you more information within 24 hours. You can pick any questions you’d like.” So what do you think, will you apply to become one of the beta testers? Do you think this is a good method for finding testers? Let us know in the comments. We always love to hear from you.

–Jerry Smith