Facebook launches People, Pages, and Places directories

Facebook has launched separate directories for people, Pages, and Places. There don't appear to be publicly accessible links to these directories – they are strictly for Facebook users that are logged in (for now?).

Previously, users could only find people, Pages, and Places through search, the personalized Find Friends feature, and the buried Pages Browser, according to Inside Facebook. Facebook has apparently decided these weren't enough.

Here's how Facebook describes the People Directory:

Browse by Name Browse for your friends alphabetically by name. Numbers 1 to 26 contain non-Latin character names. Note: This only includes people who have Public Search Listings available on Facebook. Anyone can opt out of appearing here by changing their Search privacy settings. You can also find people using our people search page.

Here's how Facebook describes the People Directory:

Browse Pages Bands, Businesses, Restaurants, Brands and Celebrities can create Pages in order to connect with their fans and customers on Facebook.

Here's how Facebook describes the People Directory:

Browse Places Places allows you to see where your friends are and share your location in the real world. When you use Places, you'll be able to see if any of your friends are currently checked in nearby and connect with them easily. You can check into nearby Places to tell your friends where you are, tag your friends in the Places you visit, and view comments your friends have made about the Places you visit. Use Places to experience connecting with people on Facebook in a completely new way.

In short, the People Directory displays an alphabetized list of all users who have set their privacy settings to make public search listings available. In addition to browsing by first letter, the Pages and Places Directories list the most popular ones first (based on number of Likes and check-ins).

This rollout is an odd one because Facebook recently decided to kill its App Directory, which was difficult to find without a direct link. Facebook basically said that users should just use the search function instead.

That was only two months ago. These new directories are also hard to find without direct links. I've contacted Facebook to see what they have to say about these new directories.

See also:

• Facebook is destroying Google in time spent online (chart)
• Americans spent 53.5 billion minutes on Facebook in May 2011
• Yahoo, Facebook test "six degrees of separation" idea
• Facebook overuse can lead to psychological disorders in youth
• Self-promoting on Facebook tied to narcissism
• Visiting your Facebook profile boosts your self-esteem
• More friends equals more stress on Facebook