Since 2004, people have used Facebook to meet and connect. Many speculated that Facebook would introduce a dating service soon after its launch, but it took until 2018 for those rumors to turn into reality. Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook Dating at the F8 Developer conference in May 2018. He described the new dating feature as a tool for finding “real long-term relationships – not just hookups” that would be designed “with privacy and safety in mind from the beginning.”

Facebook Dating first launched in Colombia in September 2018. After a successful initial testing phase, Dating expanded to more countries across South America, Asia and North America. As of September 2019, over a year after its original announcement, Dating was made available to Facebook users in the United States. In October 2020 Facebook launched Dating in Europe after having their data privacy policies approved by the European Union.

To get started, open or download the Facebook mobile app and sign in using your existing Facebook login information. Dating isn’t a standalone app - it’s built into the Facebook you already know, but there is a separate profile and messaging system, and you must opt in to use it. A Dating profile will not exist for your Facebook account unless you choose to create it. Open the menu in the Facebook app to locate the Dating tab and click “Get Started” to set up your profile. After you enter a few basic details and select a profile photo, you can choose to complete your profile manually or use a suggested profile that’s automatically generated using information from your main Facebook account. You can edit the suggested profile as much or as little as you want before moving forward.

Once your profile is live, you can fill out more personal details, add additional photos and respond to prompts about your interests and preferences. Instagram integration is available to share your Instagram posts to your Dating profile. Connecting your Instagram account can make it easier to share aspects of your life with others and create a more compelling profile. Tap the gear icon in the upper right of your Dating home screen to adjust your settings and describe your ideal date, then you’re ready to start matching.

All matching features are accessed through the Dating home screen. Suggested matches appear as a large match card in the center of the screen. Tap heart to say yes or the X to pass, or tap the match card to open their full profile. Click on a photo or a question response to leave a comment and send a like. For more matching options, you can opt into seeing suggested matches from your Facebook Events and Groups. This is one of Dating’s more unique features. Because Facebook already knows so much about its users, the Dating algorithm has more information to draw from when suggesting matches. People who share your Events and Groups are more likely to have similar interests and hobbies to you.

Dating does not match you with your current Facebook friends. The app will only suggest people who are not in your friend circle or, if you choose to allow it, people who are friends of friends. The only way to match with people you already know is to use the Secret Crush feature. With Secret Crush, you can add up to nine Facebook friends or Instagram followers who you’re interested in. If your crush is also using Dating and adds you to their Secret Crush list too, a match is made. If your crush doesn’t have a Dating profile, doesn’t use Secret Crush or doesn’t put you on their list, no one will know you entered their name.

Communication on Dating is different than many other dating apps. You can send a message to anyone at any time and anyone can send a message to you - there does not have to be a mutual match before messaging becomes available. All messaging within Dating is text-only. Photos, videos and payments cannot be shared. Facebook hopes these restrictions will help curb inappropriate behavior and deter scammers. Facebook also recently added a one-on-one video chat feature to Dating that uses Facebook Messenger. You can request a live video call with your match who can either accept it or decline.

One of Dating’s most talked-about features is available after a connection is made and you’re ready to meet your match in person. Before a date, you can open Messenger from Dating and share details about your plans - like the time, the location and the name of the person you’re meeting - with a trusted friend. The friend will receive a notification and access to your live location fifteen minutes before your date is scheduled to start, so you can feel safe meeting someone new.

Along with the United States, Facebook Dating is currently available in many other countries including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guyana, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay, United Kingdom and Vietnam. Facebook Dating is pretty much available in all of North America, South America, Asia, and Europe. Though it is entering a crowded digital space, Facebook has unique advantages that could make it a serious player in the dating industry. Dating is an entirely free service, so give it a try if you’re curious to see what one of the world’s biggest social networks can do for your romantic life.

Positives of Facebook Dating

These are the best parts of Facebook Dating.

• Easy to get started - there is no separate Dating app, just log into your existing Facebook account and navigate to the Dating tab
• Automatically complete your Dating profile by importing information from your primary Facebook profile
• Instagram integration - can include photos from your Instagram feed in your Dating profile
• Though Dating is accessed through your Facebook account, the two profiles are kept separate - your Dating activity will never appear on your Facebook profile and you will not be matched with friends
• Can opt-in to receive matches based on Facebook groups you’re part of or events you’re going to

Negatives of Facebook Dating

These are the parts of Facebook Dating which needs improvement.

• Available in the Facebook app only - Dating cannot be accessed through the Facebook website
• Users can contact anyone at any time - mutual matches are not required before initiating communication, which could mean some users are flooded with unwanted messages
• Anyone can join Dating, regardless of the relationship status listed on their Facebook profile, and no relationship status is visible on Dating - some believe this could enable cheating
• Facebook’s recent privacy scandals raise questions about the security of information shared with the company and how that data is being used

Editors Bottom Line

What should you take away from this review of Facebook Dating? Our expert explains:

Facebook connects most people in the world together. With "Facebook Dating" the social network has finally leveraged their dominance to allow their users to find love... and don't worry this does not include your friends!

We give Facebook Dating, a 4 out of 5 Stars! 😃

Awards

A list of up to the last 5 awards for the Current year and/or Past that Facebook Dating has been the recipient of, in the Dating Sites Reviews Choice awards.

Facebook Dating Profiles & Sign Up Process

Facebook Dating is accessed through Facebook’s main mobile apps for iOS and Android. There is no separate Facebook Dating app and no web-based version of the dating service. To begin using Facebook Dating, download the Facebook app and enter your regular Facebook login credentials. Facebook Dating uses your existing Facebook account, but your Dating profile and conversations are not connected to your primary social networking account. Tap the Menu icon at the bottom of the screen and select Dating to create your profile. Facebook Dating will ask you for the following information:

• Sign-up
  • Your gender
    • Woman
    • Man
    • Let me be more specific
      • Selecting this option allows you to set your gender identity from a list of options (cis woman, trans woman, cis man, trans man, non-binary person). Facebook acknowledges that the list does not reflect the full spectrum of identity but asks users to choose the option they most closely identify with so the app can suggest more relevant matches. This info is not publicly visible on your Dating profile
  • The gender you are interested in dating
    • Women
    • Men
    • Everyone
  • Set your dating location
    • Dating uses location services to confirm your location. Your dating location is visible on your Dating profile but will not change unless you update it
    • Can add up to 2 additional locations where you can look for matches (feature is called Match Anywhere)
  • Set your profile photo
    • You can use your current Facebook profile photo, choose another photo from your Facebook account or upload a photo from your camera roll

When you complete the initial sign-up process, you have an opportunity to review the details and preview a suggested profile before proceeding. Your suggested Dating profile is automatically generated using photos and information from your primary Facebook profile. You can upload new photos to your suggested profile and add, edit or delete any information you wish to change. Alternatively, you can choose to create your Dating profile manually.

Your Dating account is active after these steps, but your profile is not completely filled out. To add more information, tap your profile image in the upper left of the screen to navigate to your profile view. From the main profile screen, you can add or update the following information:

• Complete Profile
  • Add a short description of yourself in three sentences, three words, or three emojis
  • Your Basics
    • First name
    • Age
    • Gender identity
    • Height
    • Hometown
  • Your Work and Education
    • Job title
    • Company
    • High school
    • College
    • Grad school
  • Your Lifestyle
    • Children
  • Your Beliefs
    • Religious views
• Add Photos
  • You must have at least one photo on your Dating profile
  • Dating profiles with three or more photos tend to get more interest
  • Choose from photos uploaded to your Facebook account or your camera roll, or take a new photo
• Link Your Instagram
  • Add your Instagram posts to your Dating profile to show more aspects of your life to others and find shared connections that spark conversation
  • Stories can be share from Instagram on your Facebook Dating profile
  • For more information see: Facebook Dating Launches New Stories Feature
• Add Stories From Facebook
  • Select Stories/Posts to share from your regular Facebook account on your Facebook Dating profile
• Answer A Question
  • Respond to a selection of incomplete statements supplied by Dating. Your answers help create a more vivid picture of your personality and lifestyle, and act as icebreakers for potential dates who want to start a conversation with you. The statements include:
    • If I could live anywhere in the world for a year, I’d choose…
    • Something I’m embarrassed to admit that I love is…
    • My idea of a perfect day is…
    • Something that makes me laugh is…
    • One thing I want to do that I’ve never done before is…

To adjust your notification settings or privacy settings, tap the gear icon from your Dating homepage and select General. From there, you can:

• Account Settings
  • Change your notification settings
    • Toggle new likes notifications on or off
    • Toggle new messages notifications on or off
    • You may also receive occasional notifications from Facebook about Dating - these can be managed in your Facebook notification settings
  • Change your privacy settings
    • Toggle suggesting matches from friends of friends on or off
    • Block users in Dating
  • Take a Break
    • Turning on this setting will pause matching with new people in Dating. You will still be able to respond to people who you already liked or who have already matched with you.
  • Delete Profile
    • Deleting your Dating account will permanently remove your matches, conversations and your profile

Verification & Safety

Understanding the relationship between Dating and Facebook is an important part of using Dating safely and effectively. Though you access your Dating profile from your current Facebook account, your Dating experience is separate from your social networking experience. Your Dating profile is different from your Facebook profile in several ways:

• Your Dating profile and activity are not visible to your current friends on Facebook unless you match with them through the Secret Crush feature.
• Dating will not suggest current Facebook friends as matches. Secret Crush is the only way to match with your existing Facebook friends.
• If you become friends on Facebook with a suggested match, including anyone who messages you, your Dating profile will still be shared with them.
• All conversations you have on Dating are separate from your conversations on Facebook Messenger.
• Changes to your Dating profile don’t affect your Facebook profile. When you delete a photo on Facebook, it doesn’t change on Dating, and when you delete a photo from Dating, it remains in any other places you shared it.
• You can delete your Dating profile without deleting your Facebook profile. Deleting your Facebook account will also delete your Dating profile.

Your first name, age and photos are always visible on your Dating profile and your Dating profile is visible to anyone in Dating.

If you encounter any issues while using Dating, you can block or report a user. Your Blocked List shows anyone you’ve blocked in Dating. A blocked user cannot see your Dating profile, message you in Dating, or see you in the groups and events you’ve opened for suggested matches. Blocking someone on Dating does not block them on Facebook, but anyone you’ve blocked on Facebook will automatically be blocked in Dating. If there are people you know you don’t want to interact with in Dating, you can proactively block them. Doing so will not affect interactions with them elsewhere on Facebook.

One of Dating’s most unique safety features allows you to share details of a date with a trusted friend or family member. Before meeting up with someone new, you can open Messenger from Dating to share your date plans and/or your live location with a friend. Fifteen minutes before your date is scheduled to begin, that person will receive a notification and access to your live location. Your location is shared for up to an hour. You must opt into this feature and, if you choose to do so, you are completely in control of who receives your location information.

Facebook Dating Costs

Dating is a free service. There are no membership tiers, no advertisements and no premium features that can be accessed with additional fees. However, given the privacy concerns surrounding Facebook in recent years, it’s important to consider that the costs of using Dating may not be monetary.

According to Facebook, “Your Dating activity, such as people you like or pass on, won’t be shared with anyone outside Dating.” Facebook also says that any data collected while using Dating will be kept separate from its main service and will not be used to target ads. What’s clear is that Dating will give Facebook unprecedented access to the most intimate information about its users and their behaviors - and there’s no way of knowing exactly how that data will end up being used.

Dating is subject to Facebook’s data policy, which dictates that Facebook can collect various types of information about users, including:

• Content you provide, including communications and image metadata
• The people, pages, accounts, hashtags and groups you are connected to
• Your usage, such as the features you use and types of content you engage with
• Your purchases and other financial transactions on the platform
• Information other users provide about you
• Information about the devices you use to access Facebook
• Information from partners, including advertisers, app developers and publishers

This information is used to personalize your experience with Facebook’s products and services, as well as to provide ads and sponsored content that are relevant to you. Your information can be shared with Facebook’s third-party partners and with third-party apps, websites and services you have chosen to integrate with your Facebook account.

We strongly suggest reviewing Facebook’s data policy so you have a thorough understanding of what information may be collected during your use of Dating and how that information may be used by Facebook and its partners.

Facebook Dating Viewing & Communication Features

Dating is a simple service to navigate and use. Every feature is accessed directly from your home screen. This includes your likes, your messages, your suggested matches, matches from your events and groups, and Secret Crush. The menu bar across the bottom of the screen is used to navigate the entire Facebook app, not just Dating. When you receive a new like or message, a notification icon will appear with a number indicating how many new notifications you have. As you use Dating, there are several tools you can use to learn more about potential matches:

• Profile
  • Match cards display a user’s first name, age, height and profile photo
  • Tap the match card to view their full profile and photos
  • Pass (X) or Like (Heart) the profile by tapping the appropriate icon
  • Report abuse or block profile
• Photos
  • Scroll down profile to see additional photos
  • Click on any photo to leave a comment and send a like
• Questions
  • Answer questions on your profile
  • Comment on another user’s question by tapping the question and sending a message about their answer
• Messages
  • Unlike many other dating apps, Dating does not require users to have mutually indicated interest in each other before messaging can begin
  • To start a conversation, like a person's profile or respond directly to one of their photos or questions
  • Your messages in Dating are completely separate from your messages in Facebook Messenger
  • Dating messages are text-only - you cannot send links, images, or payments for security reasons
• Video Chat
  • Request a one-on-one video call with any of your online matches
  • Matches can either accept or decline the request
  • Video Chat uses Facebook Messenger to perform the call
  • For more information see: Facebook Offers Major Redesign for Users to Focus on Groups and Events
• Audio Dates
  • Request a one-on-one audio only call with any of your online matches
  • Matches can either accept or decline the invitation
  • For more information see: Facebook Dating Adds New Audio Chat Feature

Searching and Matching

Dating suggests matches for you based on things like:

• The information in your Dating profile
• The preferences you set
• Things you do and share on Facebook
• Your Facebook Groups and Events

You can adjust your Ideal Match preferences under Settings. The match preferences you can set include:

• Their Basics
  • Dating locations - Your actual location and then up to 2 additional locations that you wish to look for matches in (Match Anywhere)
  • Distance from you
  • Interested in
  • Age range
  • Height range
• Their Lifestyle
  • Children
• Their Beliefs
  • Religious views

Your suggested matches appear in the center of your home screen. You can like or pass on a profile from the home screen or tap the match card for an expanded profile view. There is no swiping mechanism. A new match appears once you have responded to your current suggested match.

Dating also suggests matches based on two parts of your activity on Facebook:

• Events
  • This option suggests matches who fit your dating preferences from events you are invited to. They can also see your profile as a suggested match.
  • You can toggle a specific event off if you do not want to receive suggested matches from it.
  • Tap ‘Check For Matches’ to see a list of suggested matches. Click on a match card to access a user’s full profile. Like or Pass by tapping the appropriate icon at the bottom of the screen.
• Groups
  • This option suggests matches who fit your dating preferences from groups you belong to on Facebook. They can also see your profile as a suggested match.
  • You can toggle a specific group off if you do not want to receive suggested matches from it.
  • Tap ‘Check For Matches’ to see a list of suggested matches. Click on a match card to access a user’s full profile. Like or Pass by tapping the appropriate icon at the bottom of the screen.

Facebook Dating also has a matching featured called "Lucky Pick". It offers users matches that are outside of their “compatible” match perimeters – meaning someone who has different interests from you could still be a good match within your location dating zone.

Secret Crush

Dating will not suggest your Facebook friends as matches and will only suggest friends of friends as matches if you opt-in. The only way to match with a current friend is through the Secret Crush feature:

• Secret Crush
  • A Secret Crush can be a Facebook friend or Instagram follower (if you have linked your Instagram account) you’re interested in
  • Scroll to the bottom of your home screen to find Secret Crush and tap “Go for it”
  • Tap the + icon and search your crush by name
  • Tap the + icon next to their name to add them to your Secret Crush list
  • Tap their picture to view their Facebook profile or remove them as a Secret Crush
  • When you add someone as a Secret Crush and they join Dating, they receive a notification that someone has a crush on them
  • Your name is only revealed if you mutually add each other as Secret Crushes
  • You can up to 9 Secret Crushes at a time
  • After you’ve started your list, you can add one Secret Crush per day; you can remove Secret Crushes at any time
  • Your Secret Crush activity does not appear anywhere else on Facebook

To see suggested matches you’ve passed on, visit General under Settings and select Second Look. This gives you an additional opportunity to review the profiles of matches you previously dismissed, as well as a chance to change your response.

Other Facebook Dating Information

Dating has not yet rolled out globally. Dating is available to Facebook users over the age of 18 who live in one of the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, United States, Uruguay and Vietnam.

Additional information on this dating service can be found in our topic for Facebook news articles.

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