If there were one company in the world that you’d probably prefer didn’t have anything to do with your dating life, what company would that be? I know that I’d probably pick Facebook and I’d guess that quite a few others would too. Well, we can’t always get what we want. Facebook announced yesterday at their F8 developer conference that they’re going to roll out new features aimed at those looking for love. If Facebook’s history is any indication, they’re probably going to screw this up horribly.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed out that there are nearly 200 million Facebook users who have marked themselves as “Single,” though I’d wager that probably at least half of those are our grandparents who just don’t understand the relationship settings. Even so, Zuckerberg seemed excited about the possibilities, indicating that they’re not just in this for the whoopee, but for real, lasting love…
This is going to be for building real long-term relationships, not just hookups.
Zuckerberg also claims that this opt-in service won’t match you with anybody you’re friends with, but based on their other algorithms that probably just means everybody will get matched up with their friend’s creepy dad who they don’t want to be friends with. All snark aside, the company wants users to be able to connect somewhat organically via shared hobbies, and other experiences, allowing for communication to spread from there.
Users will be able to look through pictures and comment in a dating sandbox that is separate from the core Facebook experience. Friends won’t be able to see your dating profile, and they shouldn’t see that you really are talking to your friend’s creepy dad. Oh, but good news, if your friend’s creepy dad is into that sort of thing (or more realistically, if you’re legitimately polyamorous) you won’t be excluded from their dating features based on your relationship status on Facebook:
Oh phew stand down, polys!!! “Update 5/1, 3:10PM ET: Clarified that Facebook is not in fact excluding users based on relationship status info.” https://t.co/qJd87EhCwa
— Molly Wood (@mollywood) May 1, 2018
What do you think about Facebook entering the dating fray? Tell us all about it in the comment section below, or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/facebook-is-building-a-dating-feature?utm_term=.vlxjjnpNPD#.ppannM3V5A” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Buzzfeed[/button]
