That Facebook was already a dating site is undeniable since it is potentially possible to search and contact anyone, perhaps trying to become friends or hoping that they can reply to our message. However, compared to dating sites, Facebook lacked, until now, a structured system to find who was available to meet new people for occasional meetings or stable relationships. Furthermore, exposing oneself to Facebook in more or less explicit statements can be embarrassing and compromising since in our profile it is possible to discover our friends, our photos, and any relationships already established.
For a few days, however, Facebook has launched a new feature dedicated to “dating”, or rather looking for meetings, for “find love based on your interests“. Facebook Dating it’s like a separate app inside the Facebook app, which can be optionally activated and allows you to create a profile to dedicate to meetings and the search for a partner, which is separate from the main profile.
Even just out of curiosity, it’s worth trying activate Facebook Dating, explaining the methods and conditions, but with the assurance that this registration is not shown to friends, that all activities in Facebook Dating are not shared on the public profile and obviously with the possibility of deactivating from Dating whenever you want, without consequences for the ‘Facebook account.
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Activate Facebook Dating
Facebook dating or Facebook Dating is a new option that appears only in the Facebook app for Android and iPhone, therefore not available on the site from a PC. To find it, tap the button with three lines at the top right of the Facebook app and then press on the Dating line, marked with the heart icon.
A guided procedure will then follow to activate the function and create the profile which will then be used to be found and introduced to new people who may like us for a real meeting or even just for a chat via chat. So let’s see the steps of creating a dating profile, explaining what they mean:
- The first two screenshots briefly explain that Dating does not share anything on the main Facebook profile.
- The third screen explains instead the rules of Dating, advising to put a nice photo, to always be educated, not to share private personal information, and to report people who can make you uncomfortable.
- Finally, it is possible to create the profile, with First name (without surname) ed Age that they are the only two pieces of information that cannot be hidden; other data on gender, city of origin, profession, school, can be described or even removed. The Dating profile may also optionally include other information including languages spoken, the propensity to drink alcohol, whether or not a smoker, hobbies and interests, and even religious orientation. All these data can be completed later.
- Who we want to meet: Women, Men and all? In this choice, Facebook asks you to accept terms and conditions on Facebook Dating data subject to special protection.
- If we are looking for a casual relationship, stable relationship, simple chat, or friendship.
- The city where we live or where we are available to meet
- You can then specify your height if you want.
- You can indicate whether or not we have children
- You can select the level of education
- You can choose to use your Facebook profile photo or change it for Facebook Dating only.
- Finally, confirm and activate the profile.
- Check the profile preview or complete it manually. However, your Dating profile can be changed at any other time.
The profile on Dating, in automatic mode, is almost completely complete, except for a section dedicated to the description of oneself, which must be added manually by writing one or more sentences up to a maximum of 500 characters.
Furthermore, Facebook will show some photos from Facebook, among those published without limitations and already visible to all. These photos can be removed from your dating profile. Keep in mind, however, that the more photos you insert in your profile, the more Facebook will find matches for us and will facilitate the meeting with a woman or a man who may please us.
To conclude the profile it is possible, optionally, to answer some pre-set questions (by tapping the button at the bottom of the page under the photo section) and share photos from your Instagram account.
Find people we like on Facebook Dating
Once the profile is complete, all that remains is to wait. It will be Facebook itself to find matches of profiles that we can like based on the preferences given and based on the data of our Dating profile. Unlike Tinder or other similar apps, Facebook Dating doesn’t allow you to search for people manually.
Pressing on Meetings from the Facebook app, after creating the profile, you can press the button of settings at the top right to indicate to Facebook the ideal profile of the person we want to meet: whether Woman or Man, Height, age range, Languages are spoken, level of education, children and religious beliefs. Still in the Settings, in the section General, you can choose whether to show Instagram posts on Dating, review discarded profiles, and share your Dating profile on Facebook or Messenger and then manage notification and privacy settings.
In the privacy settings, you can select whether to be seen by friends of friends or if you only want to meet completely unknown people. You can also manage people blocked within Dating here.
In general settings, it is possible to delete the profile or pause dating activities, in order to stop it without deleting the created profile, if you plan to use it again in the future.
Chat on Dating
If on Facebook Dating you express a preference for a profile suggested with alike, if that person also puts the like on our profile, then you will receive a notification and you can start chatting in the section Correspondences. Chat in Dating is virtually identical to Messenger.
Secret passion: looking for a meeting with a Facebook friend
The most original function of Facebook Dating is surely the one called Secret Crush or Secret Passion, which gives the possibility to express interest in a normal Facebook friend. The girl or guy who we like on Dating and who is also on our Facebook friends list will know nothing of our appreciation. Only when this person likes our profile, then, will mutual appreciation be discovered.
Secret Passions can be expressed on the Facebook Dating homepage, where you can press the + button to add Facebook or Instagram friends to Dating. For this function, however, there is a limit, because it is possible to express attraction or appreciation only to a maximum of 9 friends or followers.
Conclusions
The Dating app on Facebook is remarkable, if only for the fact that it can really connect anyone who is subscribed to the most used social network and is looking for new love relationships. The algorithm is able to match profiles with common interests without leaving traces on the real Facebook profile and, at the same time, to counteract fake profiles. Furthermore, the function of the secret passion can greatly facilitate the possibility of declaring oneself with friends we have always liked, without the need to expose yourself too much.
Certainly, the usual problems of trust remain towards the management of Facebook privacy, and even if the Dating profile remains well separated, it is always within the Facebook app which for some can be exposed to the view of relatives, girlfriends, or boyfriends. There is also no shortage of alternatives, as seen in the article on best dating apps to know who we like near us.