Great news for all fans of online dating! Facebook has provided its users with a unique opportunity for romantic acquaintances. In 2019, this popular social network launched its Facebook Dating service, which was announced at the F8 conference in May 2018. According to the developers, the search for a loved one is a very intimate issue, so they decided to create a dating app that will be safe, inclusive, and accessible. Now, let’s consider 7 important facts about the Facebook Dating app.
- Facebook Dating is built into the main application of the social network but provides for the creation of a separate profile page (you need to answer 20 questions about you and upload photos). Also, the app is integrated with Instagram and thus, it allows you to share photos therefrom. Please note that Facebook Dating can be used only by people who have already reached the age of 18 years.
- The profile page in Facebook Dating is not involved with the main Facebook account. Users can indicate their biography, place of work, education, gender (not only “female” or “male”), sexual orientation, religion, and the presence of children. But age, place of residence, and name cannot be changed – this information is imported from the main Facebook profile. All activities of a user remain in the app and are not transmitted to the main Facebook page.
- Unlike Tinder, one of the most popular dating applications, Facebook Dating does not offer to do any “swipes” to the left or right. To respond to another user’s profile, you can click one of the buttons: “interested” or “not interested”.
- Mutual approval is not necessary to start correspondence on Facebook Dating – users can write to anyone they like. Facebook Dating product manager Nathan Sharp declares that the dating service looks for potential partners based on the preferences and interests of users and their actions on Facebook. In the application, you can search for a loved one by age, religion, or distance. Moreover, Facebook Dating algorithms that analyze users’ behavior are able to identify subtle, unexpected, or explicate signs of what seems attractive to people – that is, the very incommunicable characteristics, thanks to which a person matches your kind of a potential partner.
- By default, the Facebook Dating app does not offer its users profiles of their Facebook or Instagram friends. Of course, you may wonder “But what to do if I want to date my best friend”. Do not worry! This limitation can be circumvented using the “Secret Crush” feature. It provides users with the opportunity to add up to nine Facebook or Instagram friends in a secret list and communicate with them through anonymous messages. In this case, the friends receive an anonymous notice about the interest of a “friend”. When someone adds you to the Secret Crush – you can start communication. And if some of your friends include you in their secret list, Facebook Dating lets you know.
- The developers of the Facebook Dating app claim that they pursued an objective to make it impossible to send videos, photos, links, or monetary payments via messages. This is done in order to protect users from unwelcome erotic content. After all, the issues of user security and privacy are top-of-mind for the developers.
- Nowadays, the Facebook Dating app is available just in 20 countries of the world such as the USA, Colombia, Brazil, Malaysia, Canada, Peru, Bolivia, Philippines, Guyana, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina, Singapore, Laos, Ecuador, Suriname, Vietnam, and Thailand. According to official Facebook sources, the new dating service for communicative and inquisitive users is not yet available to European citizens. The service is promised to be launched in Europe at the beginning of 2020.
TechCrunch notes that Facebook has every chance to beat off competition in the matter of online dating – the Facebook Dating app holds tons of data about its users, and this can help the search algorithms to provide users with really suitable partners for building romantic relationships. Well, it remains to be seen.
