On the heels of Tinder’s plans to go more casual, Facebook is today expanding access to its own dating service, Facebook Dating. First launched two months ago in Colombia for testing purposes, the social network is today rolling out Facebook Dating to Canada and Thailand. The company is also adding a few new features to coincide with the launch, including the ability to re-review people you passed on and take a break by putting the service on pause.
If that latter feature sounds familiar, it’s because it’s also something dating app Bumble recently announced, as well.
Bumble in September launched a Snooze button for its own app, which addressed the problem many online daters have – the need for a detox from dating apps for a bit. Sometimes that’s due to frustration or just being busy; while other times it’s because they’ve matched with someone and want to give them a chance.
Meanwhile, offering daters a chance to give someone a second look is also common among dating apps, though it’s presented in different ways. For example, OKCupid may resurface people you’ve passed on, while Tinder’s newer “Feed” feature lets you keep track of updates from matches that you had earlier decided to ignore.
These features will arrive in the new version of Facebook Dating, rolling out today, the company says.
Originally announced at F8 this May, Facebook has already figured out some of the larger details about how it wants its dating service to operate. That includes its decision to limit users from expressing interest in no more than 100 people per day, and other settings to open the service to matching with strangers or with friend-of-friends.
There’s a certain (evil) genius in launching a Facebook Dating service, given that Facebook is already the place people go – along with Instagram – to research their new matches and potential dates, once things progress to that point. Plus, the service can leverage Facebook’s data. After all, if anyone knows who you are and what you’re like, it’s them. That could save users time in answering the ‘getting to know you’ questions some apps pose to their users to help perfect their matching algorithms.
It also helps that Facebook is positioning the service for those who want relationships, given the leading dating app – Tinder – is known for the opposite.
But user trust in Facebook today is lacking. And dating is something many considerate private – not something they’d want exposed on a network where they’re connected with work colleagues, industry peers, and extended family. While Facebook vows to maintain user privacy, its track record on this front is poor, which could limit the service’s growth.
Facebook has not said when the service will launch in the U.S., nor has it detailed the number of signups to date.
