Everything You Need To Know About Facebook Dating

Bored of mindless swiping? Then Facebook are here to help you on your quest for love with the launch of their brand new dating feature. While its somewhat unimaginative name, 'Facebook Dating,' is arguably less catchy than an STI in Magaluf, it's interesting to see Facebook going full circle bearing in mind it actually started as a 'Hot or Not' site before evolving into the mega social media network it is today.

Curious? Here's absolutely everything you need to know about how it's set to change up the dating game. 

How does it work? 

The feature is only available for over 18s and will be based on a dating profile separate to your main Facebook profile. Available only on the mobile platforms, it sits within Facebook (with a push at the top of the homepage if the service is available in your country) and not in a separate app, but don't worry, it keeps your info totally separate from your main Facebook info so your privacy remains secure. 

Along with verifying your location and adding your bio, education and work info, they'll ask you to upload up to 12 photos, which can be uploaded direct from Facebook, when you login for the first time. You can also share some info about what you're looking for, including a range of options around gender and sexual orientation. After that you'll have to answer a brief personality questionnaire. This includes 20 questions, but you don't have to answer every single one, and includes classic dating app fun-but-banal things like 'What song always makes you sing along' and 'Describe your perfect day.'

Based on all of this, Facebook Dating will apparently then set you up with a bunch of like-minded matches. But instead of scrolling through like you would on Tinder, it'll be set out a little more like an old school dating website. Their aim is to get your relationship status to 'in a relationship,' so you won't be able to scroll aimlessly through pics and, similar to Hinge, will be asked to say whether you are interested and then comment on an aspect of a person's profile in order to get the flirty convo flowing. 

Only once you've both liked each other will you be able to DM, to help avoid any unsolicited dick pics. These dating messages also live in a separate dating inbox to your Facebook Messenger inbox in order to protect your privacy. 

Will my Facebook friends be able to see what I'm up to?

Thankfully no. While the app technically lives within the same platform your gran uses to inappropriately 'poke' family members, she won't be able to see what you're up to as it'll be totally private. Even better, Facebook says that while your matches will be based on friends-of-friends, none of your actual Facebook friends will appear as matching options meaning that you are totally safe from awkwardly matching with your boss after a Saturday night swiping sesh.

For maximum safety, you can apparently also set the platform to match you only with people you share no mutual connections with, which sounds pretty good to us. 

What makes it so special?

Bearing in mind we've all been on Facebook since the dawn of time (ok, like 2006), the platform has a lot of info about you. It knows your likes, your friends and your relationships status. And with 200 million of its users listing themselves as 'single' or at least 'it's complicated,' it was probably only a matter of time until it used the data it has from the pattern of ways we use it to help improve our lives. 

The idea of Facebook Dating is less about finding you a short-term, Tinder-style fling and instead aims to take on Match and OkCupid to help you find a meaningful, long-term match. 

One interesting feature you won't recognise from other dating platforms is Facebook Dating's ability to find you matches based on shared Facebook events you are attending. You have to 'unlock' an event to see if any potential matches are attending, but once you have, you can chat about shared upcoming events as a conversation starter. 

When does it launch?

The good news is that it already has - at least if you are looking for love in Colombia. Facebook launched the platform this week but so far are just trialling it in the South American country for the time being, with no announcements about a full international roll-out as yet.