Facebook Launches Deals Discount Program

Several universities are among the early adopters that have agreed to offer "deals" in the Facebook social networking site's Deals program. The Deals application lets users "check in" at a particular geographic location on their mobile phones and then get a list of the "deals" offered by nearby vendors, which they get simply by presenting their cellphone "deal" screen at the site.

The Deals include individual price discounts, group discounts, loyalty discounts for frequent purchases and even donations to designated charitable programs. According to Facebook, among the first participants in the program are national restaurant chains like Chipotle, Starbucks and McDonald's as well as Texas Tech University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Nebraska. The universities' deals currently involve their sports programs only (free tickets, etc.).