Facebook Officially Shutters Gowalla

In December we brought you news that Facebook had acquired social check-in service (and Foursquare competitor) Gowalla. Though there were rumors at the time that Facebook would be getting Gowalla users’ data in the sale, those were quickly quashed as Facebook announced that Gowalla would be closed.

Well, it looks like the hammer has finally fallen on Gowalla, as the site is shut down as of this morning. Users who try to go to Gowalla’s website this morning are greeted with a message saying that users could check back later for information on how to download their information from Gowalla.

According to the original announcement, the Gowalla team would be set to work on Facebook’s new Timeline feature, which has been rolling out in recent months and will soon be mandatory for all users. It is also likely that some of Gowalla’s features will be integrated into Facebook’s own check-in feature, as well.

Though not unexpected, Gowalla’s closure is a disappointment to the service’s remaining fans, some of whom took to Twitter to express their sentiments.

Are you sad to see Gowalla go? Gowalla users, will you switch to Foursquare, or use Facebook Check-ins? Or will you switch to something else completely? Let us know what you think in the comments.