Facebook Check In is a nice feature that lets you brag to your friends about your jet set lifestyle. You can select a place or monument in the world and check it out. Not in the sense of overnight, but in the sense of ‘let’s show all my friends that I’m in a great place’. You can also fake your location for Facebook Check In.
I know people who have jobs that take them all over the world and who think Facebook Check In is part narcissism and part sharing. It’s a bit like Facebook in general really. I am interested in where he goes and what countries he can see, so I pay attention to them in the first place.
You can also share or fake your own location for Facebook Check In.
Use Facebook Check In correctly
If you haven’t tried this feature, first I will show you how to use Facebook Check In properly. Next, I’ll show you how to fake your location. If you are already using Facebook Check In, feel free to skip to that part.
- Open Facebook and select the three more dots icon in the Create Post section of your homepage.
- Select Check In from the icons below.
- Type a location in the search box that appears, or select a location you’ve visited before from the drop-down list.
- At the top ‘What do you have in mind?’ Write a message under the section.
- Select Submit when you’re ready.
In the example, I chose Cairo because it is a place I have always wanted to visit. A map or picture of the place or monument will be filled in the box and you can add your text above. Some places will have more than one entrance, as there will be more than one monument or landmark. Choose the most suitable one.
Before publishing your post, be sure to check if you want your post to be public or keep it among your friends.
Spoof your location for Facebook Check In
As I understand it, Facebook Check In doesn’t have any checks to make sure you’re where you say you are. I was able to pretend I was in Cairo sitting in the office, and no one was smarter except those who could turn around and see me.
On a very basic level, if you want to pretend to be somewhere other than where you are, you can follow the steps above and say you are anywhere in the world. If you want to be more creative, you can.
- Select the More icon in the Create Post section of Facebook
- Select Check In from the bottom.
- Type anywhere you want in the shaded box.
- At the top ‘What do you have in mind?’ Write a message under the section.
- Publish the entry when you’re ready.
Wherever you are in the world, Facebook will add a Check In for your chosen location. Of course, just adding a random location isn’t always good enough.
Making your trip more believable
Depending on what your intentions are, if you want to trick people into thinking you’re elsewhere, you may need to beef up your situation a bit. For more extensive work, you can fake an image with fake GPS coordinates. Even though Facebook extracts EXIF data which includes location, time, date and other things, it is still possible for Facebook to find out where you are while you are taking a photo. We can trick him into thinking he’s somewhere else. Here’s how.
- Download an app for Android like Fake GPS Free or Fake GPS Location! for iphone.
- Find a picture of the location in Google Images on your computer. Preferably an open source image or a non-copyrighted image.
- Set your fake GPS location to where you are faking.
- Set the image to full screen on your computer.
- Take a picture of the picture with your phone’s camera.
- Use Facebook to open the image and add Location.
- Choose the coordinates suggested by Facebook.
- Publish normally.
If all this is working as it should, it should be because Facebook is reading the EXIF data on the photo you’ve taken. When spoofing GPS coordinates, Facebook should read them as if they were real and suggest the location you’re faking. You can then tag it and post it as usual to reinforce your fake trip story.
For most uses, the first method of spoofing your location for Facebook Check In should work fine. If you have an analytical or untrusted friend, or know someone might want to check in, these extra steps will help you convince them that you’re really traveling.
Are there other ways to fake your location for Facebook Check In? If you do, tell us below!
