Nothing says love like a like button. Facebook launched its "anti-Tinder" dating service, Facebook Dating, in 2018. Five countries, including Canada, were the first to get their hands on the Facebook love connection. Now, Facebook has announced that Facebook Dating will be coming to the U.S. by the end of the year. At its annual developer conference, F8, on Tuesday, Facebook shared that Facebook Dating was expanding to 14 additional countries beyond the original five. It also made a surprise announcement that U.S. users would get the service ¬†soon. Facebook Dating positions itself as less about "swiping," and more about starting conversations. It is an opt-in service that will suggest connections based on people in your orbit, like members of groups that you are a part of, or attendees of events you plan to go to. Your Facebook Dating profile is separate from your Facebook profile, but Facebook uses the considerable amount of information it knows about you to help you find the one. Facebook also launched a new feature called Secret Crush that lets you secretly tell your Facebook friends you have a crush on them; they'll only receive the notification if they've said they have a crush on you too. Ow ow!<doc-sep>[Update: 6 September 2019] Facebook announced the launch of Facebook Dating in the United States (US). As part of the launch, global users such as those in Singapore will have access new features that will allow them to integrate their Instagram posts directly into their Facebook Dating profile. They will also be able to add Instagram followers to their Secret Crush lists, in addition to Facebook friends. Users will also be able to add Facebook and Instagram Stories to their Dating profiles too. Facebook Dating will be rolled out to Europe by early 2020. — Facebook yesterday (1 May) announced the launch of their dating service, Facebook Dating. According to CNA, the feature is now active in 19 countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Laos, and Thailand was the first Southeast Asian country to have the service available. Image Credit: Facebook Singapore Charmaine Hung, Technical Programme Manager for Facebook Dating, said in a press release, “Currently, there are more than 200 million people who have listed themselves as single in their relationship status on Facebook.” “Many of them already use Facebook to start meaningful relationships. We view this as an incredible opportunity to connect people should they choose to explore meaningful romantic relationships.” She added that one-third of Singaporeans have dated online with 55% of Singaporeans knowing at least one couple who have met online. Get Dating Screenshot of my Facebook app Here’s how you can get started on Facebook Dating that you can access within the latest version of the Facebook app. Head to your profile and click on the ‘cards’ icon at the top right corner of your screen where you’ll be directed to a ‘Discover People’ page. Click on the ‘heart’ icon at the top right corner of the screen again, and you’ll be directed to Facebook Dating to set up your profile. Perhaps as a way to cast your net further, you can also browse nearby events and groups that interest you and “unlock” the event. Your profile will be shared with other people attending that same event and you will also be able to see who’s going and check out their profiles. Dating chats are separate from Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp and it is text-only enabled as a “safety measure”, CNBC wrote. Image Credit: Facebook Singapore There’s also the Secret Crush feature that lets you choose up to nine of your Facebook friends whom you have a ~crush~ on – more accurately, friends or friends of friends you would like to date. Image Credit: Facebook Singapore “If your crush has opted into Facebook Dating, they will get a notification saying that someone has a crush on them. If your crush adds you to their Secret Crush list, it’s a match,” Hung explained. Safety And Privacy Image Credit: Facebook Singapore Facebook Dating seems to go against the ‘swiping’ movement popular dating app, Tinder, has created. Users are required to look through potential dates’ profiles before tapping on “not interested”, Straits Times (ST) described – which could be a way to ensure users make more meaningful matches. Suggested matches that are served to users are based on common interests, preferences, and their activities on Facebook. The service is free and your privacy is within your control, especially when this service will connect you with people not in your social circle. Your dating profile is separate but it will use the first name and age specified in your regular Facebook account, TODAY said. Also, only your suggested matches and those to whom you are suggested to can see your dating profile – unless you opted-in, current Facebook friends and people you’ve blocked on Facebook will not be suggested to you. Location services must be turned on at the point of sign-up to ensure a “safe experience” for users, so Facebook knows “[users] are where they say they are”. But, fret not, users can disable location services after signing up for Facebook Dating and enable it again later if they wish to. Only users who are 18 and above can sign up for Facebook Dating. Users can only send a text message once to a match they’re interested in and the conversation can only continue if the other person replies. The service also allows users to block and report any inappropriate users and offenders will be banned from Facebook Dating. Users who don’t follow Facebook community’s standards will also not be allowed to sign up for a profile on Facebook Dating. As with any other dating services, everyone should be careful about the information you put out there and be vigilant about the information you receive from others. We also don’t know if Facebook Dating allows users with statuses like, ‘In a relationship’ or ‘Engaged’ to sign up for a profile. Have you set up your Facebook Dating profile yet? Share with us your experience! If not, why? Featured Image Credit: Facebook Singapore<doc-sep>Facebook announced Tuesday that its matchmaking service would be expanding to the U.S. later this year, NBC News reported. The social media platform said during the company's yearly developer conference that the feature would be rolled out in 14 new countries Tuesday and in the U.S. this year. ADVERTISEMENT “We are getting great feedback in the five counties we have launched in,” Fidji Simo, who runs Facebook's mobile app, said according to NBC. The service has previously been available in Colombia, Thailand, Canada, Argentina and Mexico. Brazil, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Ecuador are among those being added Tuesday. Facebook also announced a new feature within its dating service called “Secret Crush,” where users can select nine of their friends they’d like to match with. If both users pick each other, Facebook will notify each user. Dating websites and apps have quickly grown in popularity over the past decade. Facebook revealed during the conference that it would be redesigning its platform, including its Messenger app.<doc-sep>Facebook's dating service will soon be available in 19 countries with the U.S. coming by the end of this year, and is introducing a new Secret Crush feature that will notify friends who like one another. Users will be able to choose up to nine friends who they have crushes on. If those friends are also on Facebook Dating, and similarly select them, the feature will notify both. If not, Facebook claims "no one will know that you've entered a friend's name." Similar features have been available through various third-party apps, including one known as Down. Facebook is also expanding Dating to 14 more countries around the world, including Brazil and Malaysia, and it will be available in the U.S. by the end of 2019, said Fidji Simo, the head of the Facebook app. Facebook Dating was announced about a year ago as a way to find potential matches within users' friend lists or groups, and has been available in Colombia, Thailand, Canada, Argentina and Mexico. Facebook made the announcements at its F8 conference for software developers, which is happening in San Jose, California, this week. The company's shares are up about 6% since reporting stronger-than-expected revenue growth in its Q1 2019 earnings report last Wednesday, and are up more than 40% year to date. WATCH: Here's how to see which apps have access to your Facebook data — and cut them off<doc-sep>
One year after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new dating feature, the social media giant is expanding its matchmaking service. Facebook announced Tuesday at the company’s yearly developer conference that “Facebook Dating” is coming to 14 more countries — and to the U.S. later this year. “We are getting great feedback in the five counties we have launched in,” said Fidji Simo, who runs Facebook’s main mobile app. Among the 14 countries are Brazil, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Ecuador. Facebook Dating is rolling out to 14 new countries. Facebook Facebook also announced the launch of a feature within its dating service called “Secret Crush,” where users can select nine of their friends that they’d like to match with. If both users pick each other, Facebook will notify each user. Facebook’s entry into the online dating scene was met with some surprise in 2018, with the company having been under growing scrutiny for its privacy practices. And while the social network continues to deal with a variety of investigations into its handling of user data, Zuckerberg has also said the company will focus more on private messaging — a move that could offer some assurances to users skeptical of romantic encounters on the platform. Online dating sites and mobile apps have exploded in popularity over the past decade, with many using Facebook’s social network to quickly upload personal information and find possible mates for their users. Tinder’s growth to 1.6 billion global users was fueled in part by easy access to Facebook’s data and targeting.