"Just like with mobile, Facebook will see location needing to become a core competency of their business," Patton said.

Gartner analyst Annette Zimmermann also said that Find Friends Nearby wouldn't be enough to establish Facebook as a player in social discovery.

"The fact that Facebook is moving into the location-based services space in general is natural and inevitable, but they have to be more serious in order to get it to work and make it a success. I think they are taking relatively small steps at a time." Zimmermann said.

As with other location-based features, Find Friends Nearby comes with some risks to users' privacy.

Users will have to remember that once the feature is open, "strangers who may be using the page nearby could find you as well," Zimmermann said. Some users will be put off by the prospect, but others won't, she said.