Facebook launched an internal dating service with Facebook online dating app which was announced in May 2018. At the moment, it works only in Colombia. For someone, this news is another minor surge in a restless ocean of information, and for someone, it is a new milestone in the development of the whole industry. After all, when giants enter a particular market, the rules of the game may change significantly. As well as the position of key players in the ranking of the strongest and most influential.
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How Facebook Online Dating App Works
The Facebook Online Dating App runs inside the main Facebook application for Android and iOS. You can launch it via the hamburger menu. The service is available only to users over the age of 18; it is completely free, and there is no advertising or paid features.
When you switch to Facebook Dating, it will ask you to create a separate profile for dating in which only the name. Where age will be used from the main account. To create a profile, you must briefly describe your biography (education, place of work, the presence of children) and answer 20 questions, including “What does your ideal day look like?” or “What song always makes you sing?” Also, the user can upload up to 12 photos that can be imported from Facebook or Instagram.
The user can search for potential partners within a radius of 100 km around his or her location which Facebook automatically determines. A person cannot specify another search region. The social network will offer them partners taking into account the coinciding interests and answers in the questionnaire. Facebook friends and blocked users will be excluded from the list. If a Facebook user is not logged in to Facebook Dating, they will also not be able to be found in the service.
Unlike applications such as Tinder where you need to get mutual approval to start a dialogue, a user of Facebook Dating can write to any of the search results but not more than a hundred people a day. The caller can reply or ignore the message. Communication takes place through the built-in chat, in which you can only exchange text messages and emojis – there is no possibility to attach a photo or video.
What The Experts Say
Some experts believe that Facebook is able to change the modern dating market. First, it’s a matter of the power of the company which allows it to dictate its conditions from the very beginning and compete with the giants of the industry, like Tinder and Badoo. Facebook is said to have big plans for its presence in the online dating market. At least there are about 100 million singles registered on this social network who are still looking for a couple.
Having a ready-made TA and the absence of the need to identify its needs gives Facebook a big advantage. In addition, the company has literally tons of information about its users, which allows it to create a revolutionary, new, most accurate algorithm for creating matches.
Some key market players have already realized the seriousness of this debut. They have built long-term plans for competition and … cooperation. For example, the creators of Bumble say that they could join forces and say a new word in this business. What exactly is in question is not yet specified.
How Online Dating Market Appeared
It is worth noting that the online dating market has gone through two stages. At the beginning of its formation, in the 1990s. The dating industry consisted of dating sites where users had a limited set to interact with each other. And the entire interactive ended in chat rooms and mailing. The main objective of such sites was to create a space where people can find a couple to build long-term relationships.
With the advent of Tinder and other similar services, the situation has changed. As it turned out, among the needs of the target audience of dating sites, hookups held a special place. And companies that understood this in time met this demand and changed the market. We wonder how Facebook will integrate into this environment.
