( CNN ) -- Following a period of freak-out on the Internet on Monday , Facebook appears to have pulled a controversial feature that let the social network 's users get a digital list of other Facebookers nearby . The `` Find Friends Nearby '' feature was not accessible in a CNN test on Tuesday morning , and other media outlets , including CNET , reported that Facebook had pulled the service . In a statement e-mailed to CNN , a Facebook spokeswoman declined to elaborate . `` This was n't a formal release -- this was something that a few engineers were testing , '' the spokeswoman wrote . `` With all tests , some get released as full products , others do n't . Nothing more to say on this for now -- we 'll communicate to everyone when there is something to say . '' When Facebook users logged on to the Find Friends Nearby site , they were supposed to be able to see friends and other Facebook users who were in close proximity . Facebook users did not show up on those location-aware lists unless they intentionally logged into that site , which was accessible on Monday at http : //fb.com/ffn . The site came to the public 's attention on Sunday after news of the feature was leaked to the tech press , according to news reports . A Facebook engineer who claimed to have designed the feature said in a message to the blog TechCrunch that it could be used to quickly look up and `` friend '' someone who you 'd met in person . `` For me , the ideal use case for this product is the one where when you 're out with a group of people whom you 've recently met and want to stay in contact with , '' that developer , Ryan Patterson , wrote . `` Facebook search might be effective , or sharing your vanity addresses or business cards , but this tool provides a really easy way to exchange contact information with multiple people with minimal friction . '' Patterson wrote that he developed the app as part of a coding competition , or hackathon . `` Social discovery '' apps like Highlight and Glancee , which Facebook recently purchased , already perform similar functions and have not been hit with the same backlash Facebook received . Facebook says it was `` testing '' the feature and that it had not become a formal part of the site , despite the fact that it was available online on Monday . The company had not promoted the feature . `` We are constantly testing new features but have nothing more to share at this time , '' a company spokeswoman told CNN in an e-mail on Monday . The blog ReadWriteWeb dubbed the feature a `` stalking app , '' and news of Find Friends Nearby received a cold reception on the Internet , where Twitter users and bloggers panned the idea -- saying Twitter-y things like `` Hell to the naw , '' `` Oh lawd ! '' and `` BAD FACEBOOK ! ! '' Furthermore , a company called Friendthem claimed Monday that Facebook had stolen its concept and was threatening the much-larger social network with a lawsuit . `` I was amazed on Sunday to read that Facebook is blatantly stealing our idea with what they are calling , 'Find Friends Nearby , ' '' Friendthem CEO Charles Sankowich said in a statement posted on VentureBeat and on other tech news sites . What do you think of the idea of knowing which Facebook users are nearby ? Could this be useful for finding new friends and looking up new contacts ? Or does it cross a line in terms of privacy ?
Facebook pulls 'Find Friends Nearby ' feature . The feature , called a `` stalking app '' by one site , let Facebook users see a list of people nearby . Facebook users had to be logged in to the site to appear on the lists . Internet users blasted the feature as an invasion of privacy .