Facebook announces new “dating services” for its 2 billion users
Facebook has launched a new dating service for singles.
The company announced that Dating, its new matchmaking service, has launched in the US.
Facebook users are able to link their Facebook and Instagram posts and create a separate profile using the Dating feature. This new profile allows them to connect with Facebook’s 2 billion users around the world.
“Facebook Dating allows you to match with friends of friends and/or people not in your friend circle,” said a blog post from Nathan Sharp, head of the project.
“Facebook Dating won’t match you with friends, unless you choose to use Secret Crush and you both add each other to your list,” Mr Sharp said.
Secret Crush, which is one of the features, allows people who are friends to connect if they both secretly express an interest in each other.
“We’ve been really slow, actually, with this rollout,” Charmaine Hung, a product manager at Dating, told CNN Business. “We really wanted to make sure we got it right because dating is so personal.”
Any Facebook mobile user over the age of 18 is able to take advantage of the service, and Facebook has slowly been rolling it out over the world.
The release in the US marks the 20th country to be given access to the service.
The other 19 countries that it has been released in include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Suriname, Thailand, Uruguay and Vietnam.
There is no word yet as to when the service will be launched in Australia and New Zealand.