Last night (1 May), Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement at Facebook’s F8 event that was music to the ears of many single people.
Zuckerberg talked about the 200 million Facebook users registered as single, after which he said, “There is something to do here.”
That “something” turned out to be something quite big, as the Facebook CEO announced that the social network giant is diving into the online dating space with its own dating feature.
Ever since the announcement, many people are intrigued as to how the feature will work and how it will be different from other prominent dating apps like Tinder.
So here’s what you can expect from Facebook’s dating feature and how it will work:
First the Basics
First, let’s get the obvious out of the way. You will need a separate profile to use Facebook’s Dating feature. According to what we heard from Facebook developers at the event, your dating profile will consist of only your pictures (four to start with).
This profile will be visible only to you initially and later becomes visible to users you interact with. We’ll get to this later.
Scouting the Right Match
After you’re done making your profile, you need to scout through different events and groups near your area based on which you are recommended people who are going to the same event.
The only way your profile will become visible to others is if you unlock an event you are interested in. Post that your profile will be made visible to all the users attending the same event. You will also be able to see who’s attending and browse their dating profiles.
According to Chris Cox, Facebook's chief product officer, this is a smart move as many people socialise and start dating after meeting at such events.
Time to Go Dating!
The only way you can start a conversation with someone is if you like a picture in one of the user’s profiles recommended to you. You can also leave a comment if you wish to.
You might just get some more brownie points if they like your one-liner (or smart pickup line).
Post that, the person you liked gets a notification. If the other person wants to respond, they can do so in a private message box connected to the profile. You then get to interact in the same message box.
As a safety feature, Facebook has made sure that this message box isn’t connected to WhatsApp or FB messenger in any way.
Also, currently this is a text only feature. This new “Dating” feature on Facebook acts on similar grounds to dating apps like Hinge.
Of the many happy single folks out there who are jumping like a penniless Mario awaiting this feature to roll out, there is this one heartbroken ex-friend of Facebook’s, who might have a torrid time in the days to come.
Sorry Tinder, you have been unmatched!
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