Facebook's 'Neighborhoods' faces crowded niche market, profiling concerns

Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Facebook logo in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

(Reuters) - When Facebook began testing its new "Neighborhoods" feature in Canada last October amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the tech giant described it as a dedicated place for people to connect with their local communities.

Here, in a corner of the world's largest social network, people met neighbors, shared banana bread ingredients, helped locate missing cats and swapped local business recommendations, the feature's product manager Reid Patton said in a recent interview.