The long-announced dating feature for finding partners through Facebook has recently been launched by the social network. It allows users to flirt online. For now, however, this feature is only offered in a few countries. The dating feature was unveiled at the F8 developer conference presented in May. It started out as a pilot project offered exclusively in Colombia. Even so, this pilot already gives a sense of the basic decisions Facebook made about online flirting. The feature is available only to adult users. It is somewhat hidden, though, because it is packaged inside the existing mobile apps. That means this version of Facebook cannot be used on a desktop computer.

When searching for the perfect woman, Facebook draws on its extensive database for searching people. Online media such as Techcrunch and The Verge have explained and presented this new Facebook service in more detail. Both outlets report that, at first, no advertising will be shown in the dating area and there are no premium features of the kind known from other services such as Tinder. You could say this is a dating service without much frills.

[caption id="attachment_620" align="alignright" width="300"]Online dating through social networks. Dating through social media.[/caption]

The Questionnaire: Searching for a Woman on Facebook

Anyone who wants to meet many new people through the feature creates a new profile specifically for online dating. Reportedly, only the first name and age are carried over from an existing Facebook profile. When setting up the special profile, the user has to answer up to 20 questions, including how he imagines a particular day looking. Later, these answers serve as possible conversation starters. Facebook users can upload dozens of photos and provide details about their education, job, religion and height. Besides the gender "woman" or "man", search preferences can also include "non-binary" or "transgender". As a worldwide network, Facebook is initially meant to put dating features for people in the immediate vicinity into a new context. The city where users are located should be specified so that Facebook can use GPS to check that the data makes sense, in order to look out for women when searching on Facebook. With this feature, users can contact other people within a radius of up to 100 kilometers (about 62 miles). Pictures of genitals may not be sent, however.

Making Contact Is Uncomplicated and Unrestricted

To message someone else on Facebook Dating, unlike on Tinder, users do not have to show mutual interest. A first message can simply be ignored so that others can no longer ask follow-up questions. In general, only emojis and text can be sent in the dating chat. This ensures that users can feel safe from receiving unwanted content.

Advantages of social media:

  • Easy & quick contact.
  • Easy conversation starters.
  • There is a large selection of potential singles.
  • Excellent search options.
  • Safety is ensured.