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Facebook Dating is doing a test run right now in Colombia
- Facebook Dating — hinted at earlier this year — is now live in Colombia for a test run.
- Facebook Dating looks a lot like other dating apps, it’s just mixed in with regular Facebook.
- Since this is just a test run, Facebook Dating could look very different when it gets a wide release.
Earlier this year, we heard rumors of a new dating service from Facebook. Now, for the first time, Facebook Dating is out in the wild doing a test run in Colombia, via The Verge.
As one would expect, Facebook Dating relies heavily on your Facebook profile, your Facebook friends, Group memberships, Events attendance, etc., to connect you with other Facebook daters. Facebook Dating is even baked right into the Facebook app, at least for now. It is not available in a browser, just in the Android and iOS applications in Colombia.
Unlike many popular dating apps such as Tinder or Bumble, the “swipe right or swipe left” model isn’t present in Facebook Dating. Instead, you search for people through your shared connections. For example, you could opt to search for available matches that are also a member of one of your favorite Groups or even connect with someone who attended a past Facebook Event with you. Facebook takes care of the connection, all you have to do is message them.
You can send as many messages as you like each day, but you can only connect with 100 new people every 24 hours. When you do message someone, you are limited to text and Emojis only, no photos (you know why). Unlike Tinder or Bumble, you do not have to mutually match with anyone to send them a message — the only prerequisite is that the person is in your available pool of daters. Other than that, you can message pretty much anyone.
Your available pool automatically filters out people you are already friends with on Facebook so you don’t have to worry about accidentally messaging a family member or something. However, if you unfriended an ex or family member, they could show up in your pool because they likely are friends of your friends, which is one of the ways Facebook dating connects people.
If and when Facebook Dating comes to your country, you won’t have to worry about unexpectedly getting barraged with messages from random people looking to date, as Facebook Dating is entirely opt-in. You can’t even start with Facebook Dating until you make a dating profile, so there’s no way to accidentally start dating, even with the service being baked into the regular app.
Finally, there are no advertisements or payment plans with Facebook Dating — as of now, it is 100 percent free.
You can read an in-depth breakdown of the new service over at The Verge. In the meantime, let us know in the comments below how you feel about using a Facebook dating service.