Gowalla confirms Facebook buy, service going away

After reports leaked out last week that Facebook was buying Gowalla, the Gowalla team confirmed the news in a blog post today. The Gowalla service will be going away but Facebook won’t be getting that data.

Gowalla started as something of a Foursquare competitor where users shared their location-based check-ins but it recently pivoted toward sharing your stories with photos, locations and more. If that sounds it’s harmonious with Facebook’s recently-introduced Timeline feature, you’d be right.

In the blog post, the Gowalla team said:

Gowalla, as a service, will be winding down at the end of January. We plan to provide an easy way to export your Passport data, your Stamp and Pin data (along with your legacy Item data), and your photos as well. Facebook is not acquiring Gowalla’s user data.

We know how much many of you loved Gowalla. It’s been the highlight of our lives as we’ve built it with your help over the past two years. As we move forward, we hope some of the inspiration behind Gowalla — a fun and beautiful way to share your journey on the go — will live on at Facebook.

So, Gowalla is essentially dead but many of its features should live on in upcoming Facebook apps.

[Via GoWalla]