Matti Robinson
6 Sep 2019 11:18
Facebook has launched a new dating service inside its flagship service. New Facebook Dating is easy to see as a direct competitor to the likes of Tinder.
Facebook Dating is available in the US and 19 other countries, including Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, etc, but excluding Europe. European launch is set for early 2020.
As you might imagine, there's not much to the premise of the service. It is a dating feature, within Facebook's core app, with Facebook-enabled features. This means that it can do things like use interests set in Facebook to match people.
According to Facebook, it has tried to minimize the effort needed to join the service, although not having a Facebook account might be quite a hurdle for some.
Facebook Dating profile can include things like Instagrams posts and later on the company intends to add possibility to add Facebook and Instagram Stories posts too.
Rather obviously you can use Facebook photos in your profile.
Secret Crush feature allows you to show affection to a crush of yours. However, the secret is that it only lets the person know about the crush if it is reciprocated.
Even though the service is seen as a Tinder competitor, Facebook say that "Facebook Dating isn't about swiping or having to wait for someone to like you to get a first chance at reaching out."
There's no separate app that you need to download either, Facebook Dating is found within the Facebook app.
Facebook Dating has previously been available to select markets.