From today Facebook Dating – Facebook's feature for finding people to start a romantic relationship with – is available in 20 countries, including the United States. The feature, which is expected to arrive in Italy in 2020, was announced in 2018, when Facebook began testing it in Colombia.
In order to use Facebook Dating you must be at least 18 years old and choose to activate the option that concerns you. Those who choose to do so can then create a separate profile from their main Facebook profile and use it to start finding people among those who are subscribed to Facebook Dating. Facebook said that users will be provided with suggestions based on common interests and geographical proximity and that the Facebook Dating profile can be integrated with images from their Instagram profile. In Facebook Dating there is also an option known as “secret crush”, which allows you to tell Facebook that you have an interest in someone on your friends list; an interest that will be declared to the other person only if she (or he) does the same.
Unlike Tinder, on Facebook Dating there is no “swipe” system to quickly scroll through the cards of each potential partner and decide who to like (swipe right) and who not (swipe left). The new service provides for greater interaction on the part of users: if a profile is considered interesting, the system offers to write a message or comment to one of the photos, before viewing the following card. After sending, the user will no longer be able to see or contact that profile, unless its owner demonstrates an interest in turn.
