Four months after Facebook announced the launch Facebook Dating, a dating app built within the app, the service launched to a test audience in Colombia.
This is the first glimpse anyone's had of the app, which isn't actually an app, but another tab within Facebook. People who want to use it will be able to set up a separate Facebook Dating profile, in addition to their regular Facebook profile, that's only visible to other Dating users. Facebook says none of the activity you log on Facebook Dating will show up on your News Feed, or elsewhere on the app.
Based on screenshots, Dating looks a lot like the current iteration of Hinge—there won't be any swiping (like on Tinder and Bumble), and instead, users will have to answer question prompts to get conversations rolling.
And because Facebook already knows basically everything about you—like what you Like, which Events you're planning to go to, and what sort of Groups you belong to— Facebook Dating will integrate this preexisting knowledge into its dating service. Dating users will be served suggested matches based on things they've already liked on Facebook—so maybe all those really lame proto-meme pages you liked in 2005 are now going to play a major role in your romantic life.
Dating users will be able to opt-in if they want to see if any other Dating users (who've also opted-in) are going to certain events they're marked as attending, or belong to groups they join. The idea is to get more people to meet IRL than on the actual Dating service.
"More than 200 million people have listed themselves as single in their relationship status on Facebook," Nathan Sharp, product manager for Facebook Dating, said in a press release. "We view this as an incredible opportunity to continue helping people build relationships in meaningful ways on Facebook."
Everyone's clicking on...
There's no word yet on when Facebook Dating will be available to users outside of Colombia.
Follow Hannah on Twitter.
![from lifted entertainmentlove island: sr13 on itv2 and itvxepisode 38pictured: julia, lorenzothis photograph is (c) itv and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or itv plc. this photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by itv plc picture publicity. this photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of itv picture publicity. full terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/87336bdf-dfe1-4e0e-8fa5-45d0494f50e2.jpg?crop=0.565xw:1.00xh;0.205xw,0&resize=360:* "How to tell your friend you don’t like their partner")
![from lifted entertainmentlove island: sr13 on itv2 and itvxepisode 40pictured: aidan, finley.this photograph is (c) itv and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or itv plc. this photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by itv plc picture publicity. this photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of itv picture publicity. full terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/addbfe89-969c-4ccd-89db-b33949db11fe.jpg?crop=0.564xw:1.00xh;0.436xw,0&resize=360:* "from lifted entertainmentlove island: sr13 on itv2 and itvxepisode 40pictured: aidan, finley.this photograph is (c) itv and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or itv plc. this photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by itv plc picture publicity. this photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of itv picture publicity. full terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms")
