Earlier this week, Facebook rolled out its dating feature in the US with the integration of Instagram profiles. The Facebook Dating feature has been in test mode since May 2018 across 19 other countries. The Dating feature was originally unveiled by the head of the Facebook app Fidji Simo at the annual F8 conference last year.
With the Facebook Dating feature, users can set up a dating profile using elements from their profiles on both Facebook and Instagram. Once users opt into the Dating feature, they will see suggested photos and information to add to their profiles, which can be removed, replaced, and edited.
Facebook Dating is based within the main Facebook app and users will be able to post their Instagram Stories on their dating profiles also. Plus Facebook Dating users will be able to find matches with their Instagram followers with a feature called “Secret Crush.”
And Facebook will only show whether people are a connection if both users label each other as the “Secret Crush.” Previously the Secret Crush list was limited to Facebook friends, but then it was expanded to Instagram followers.
The Secret Crush feature allows you to select up to 9 of your Facebook friends or Instagram followers who you’re interested in.
“If your crush has opted into Facebook Dating, they’ll get a notification saying that someone has a crush on them. If your crush adds you to their Secret Crush list too, it’s a match! If your crush isn’t on Dating, doesn’t create a Secret Crush list, or doesn’t put you on their list — then no one will know that you’ve entered their name,” wrote Facebook product manager Nathan Sharp.
You can choose to see other people who are using Facebook Dating that fit your preferences within the groups you are part of and the events you have attended or will be attending.
“If you do create a Facebook Dating profile, only your first name and your age will come with you from your Facebook profile. For all other information, such as your gender identity, who you are interested in, photos and more, you choose whether to share it on your Dating profile,” added Facebook VP & Chief Privacy Officer, Policy Erin Egan. “You can also choose how you want to present yourself to potential matches, like whether you provide different information than you have on your Facebook profile, and if you share details such as your hometown, religion, occupation and more within Dating. In fact, we chose not to show your gender identity to potential matches in order to respect people’s privacy.”
People who are using Facebook Dating can share details of their upcoming date and/or live location with someone they trust via Messenger. And they will be able to control if they want to choose this feature. If they do, they are in control of who they share this information with.
Facebook Dating feature is free. And Sharp told Bloomberg that there are “no plans for ads and no plans for subscriptions.”
One of the biggest advantages Facebook Dating has over rivals like Match Group — which owns Match.com, PlentyOfFish, and Tinder — is its massive user base. As of Q2 2019, Facebook saw 2.41 billion monthly active users.
Along with the US, Facebook Dating is also available in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay, and Vietnam. And Facebook Dating will be expanded into Europe by early 2020.
You will need to be age 18 and up and have the latest version of the Facebook app to use the Dating feature.
