So soon Facebook will be invading Tinder’s space with its new set of dating features. It will let people choose to start a dating profile on Facebook. The profile will only be visible to non-friends who also choose to create a profile. Then, Facebook will match you using some preferences. And because Facebook has more data about us than any other app, Facebook’s dating will be able to deliver more relevant matches. Facebook already started testing the feature in its Colombia on September 20th, 2018.
Facebook explained that “potential matches will be recommended based on dating preferences, things in common, and mutual friends. They’ll have the option to discover others with similar interests through their Groups or Events.”
Here’s how Facebook dating will actually work:
- Opt in to create a dating profile with just your first name. Your profile won’t be visible to friends, people who aren’t on the dating feature, and it won’t also show up in the News Feed.
- You’ll browse Events in your city and the groups that match your interests. You can select to “unlock” some for dating, and you’ll then see the dating profiles of people who have also unlocked that surface.
- You can then browse through people’s profiles that show some of their photos and some basic information about them. You will be shown people based on mutual interests and fiends, plus other data Facebook has about you.
- If both of you are interested in each other, you’ll be able to start a conversation in a special inbox that’s separate from Messenger and Whatsapp. For safety, only text can be sent for now.
So many marriages start on Facebook already, so there is a big opportunity for the company to build long-term marriage-focused matching, opposed to apps like Tinder that focus on quick hookups. Investors really think Tinder is in danger now, considering shares of its parent company Match Group fell 17 percent after Facebook announced its dating feature.
Still, the question weather Facebook has built enough barrier between its social network and it’s new dating feature. Some people might find it not suitable to do it all in one app. And in case they get burned by a bad experience either in through the online chat or offline, they could blame Facebook for it. However, Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox explains, dating had always been a natural fit for Facebook thanks to its ubiquity, data, and trusted platform identity.
