Is Facebook the Next to Revolutionize the Dating App
May 9, 2018
Online dating has been around since the dawn of the internet, with websites like Plenty of Fish and Tinder taking the front seat when it comes to finding love online. While social media has always been a way for individuals to reach out, meet new people, and even find romance, it’s never been marketed as such. According to Facebook, social media may be better for more than just posting pictures of your kids and playing online games. The social media giant made an official announcement on May 1st, 2018 during the F8 Developer Conference, a conference designed specifically for Facebook related news, that they would be entering dating game officially.
Facebook has been around for almost 15-years and has always let its users expand on their relationship status, with the ability to state whether they’re single, married, or in a complicated relationship. The CEO of the company, Mark Zuckerberg, made the announcement for the future dating app himself while in San Jose, California. The idea is for an app to exist within the Facebook structure, but still be separate from Facebook. Zuckerberg made it very clear that Facebook itself was not becoming a dating application and would still stand on its own feet as a social application first with the option of finding love for those interesting in dating.
Long Term vs. Hookups
Whether a dating app wants to be known for hookups or finding love, they eventually find their own niche in the dating game. Facebook is taking the stance of long-term dating with their new endeavor into the online relationship game. Mark Zuckerberg concluded, while speaking at the F8 conference, that he wants this new dating application to offer users a real relationship and not just a chance to meet and hook up. This will differ from Tinder, which has become known as something of an online hot spot for one-night stands.
To this extent, Facebook will not be restricted to those who are single or those who are using the application for dating purposes. It will remain as it always has been, a social platform for individuals to find old friends and make new ones, and for businesses to market themselves and provide services and products to consumers. The new app will be optional, and only users interested in dating will need to opt in if they want to take part.
User Concerns
As with any new idea, users seem to have concerns regarding the new advancement in social media and dating applications. The consensus seems to be that users are nervous about friends, family, and coworkers seeing their online profile simply because they’re friends on Facebook. Zuckerberg targeted this issue with his announcement as well, explaining that the dating application would have the strictest of security and that profiles would be kept completely separate so that just because you are on the dating app, friends of your Facebook page won’t see your new profile.
Another user concern seems to be whether this will change the layout of Facebook too much. As can be seen with the recent stock fall of Snapchat following their redesign, making big changes in social media can be detrimental to its overall success, and consumers like things the way they are when it comes to Facebook. At this time, it doesn’t appear that any large changes will be immanent, but only time will tell.
Why Connect it to Facebook At All?
If the new dating app is being separated from Facebook as a social media app, why combine them at all? Zuckerberg is hoping to use to its advantage something which Facebook has that other dating apps haven’t necessarily mastered yet. Facebook users love to create events, and this is a great way to help people meet organically and get an opportunity to laugh, chat, dance, drink, or eat together without the obligatory “hookup” that other dating apps seem to instill. This event-based dating concept will come through a feature named unlocking. Unlocking allows users to make their own profile events visible to others on the dating app, so that you can meet and get to know each other.
There may be some opportunities for online events, and meet and greets as well. Mark Zuckerberg expressed his desire for users of the dating app to use every facet of Facebook to their advantage, especially the Events feature. Mingling and being active in online social activities can be just as beneficial as being active in physical social activities, according to Facebook.
Of course, Facebook is hoping to keep everything authentic and private, especially after their recent fallout with the law regarding privacy legalities. This genuine position may work in their favor and even boost them above major players like Tinder who was recently found out for having paid two of its users to meet in person due to interest that had garnered through online commends. Could this also be part of the reason Facebook is hoping to take the dating world by storm through their new online app? It could very well be.
So, will this latest endeavor from Facebook be successful and bring in the interest of singletons around the web looking for some romance? It’s too soon to tell, but following the test phase, when this application launches for real, it should be quick to determine whether people will take it seriously or if it will quickly fall by the wayside like the Snapchat Spectacles.