Mark Zuckerberg wants to control your love life with the newly launched ‘Facebook Dating’ app

By Bianca Borissova

Published Sep 10, 2019 at 09:29 AM

Reading time: 3 minutes

3533

No offence to Mark Zuckerberg, but he is probably the last person I would go to if I wanted to find love. Last week, Facebook officially launched Facebook Dating in the U.S., a new product by the social media giant that would serve as a dating app and the first step the company has taken towards meddling in our love lives. The question is, do we really need Facebook to jump on the bandwagon of dating apps?

When it comes to authenticity, it is no secret that the company has a history of stealing ideas from others. Remember when Facebook tried to buy Snapchat, Snapchat refused and as a result both Facebook and Instagram (also owned by Facebook) introduced a story feature? Instagram stories are now significantly more popular than Snapchat ones, and Snapchat is losing users by the day—I don’t actually remember the last time I opened the app, yet Instagram makes over 35 percent of my weekly screen time (please don’t judge me). That said, it is no surprise that Facebook is now trying to capitalise on love and the digital hook-up culture, a market worth billions, with Tinder making $120 million in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2019 alone. But will Facebook be successful?

Rose

There are, of course, various concerns that this feature won’t really take off. Few people use Facebook the same way we did ten years ago, when the network was at its prime. Gone are the days of cringe status updates. Both Twitter and Instagram have replaced the space for us to constantly share updates of our daily lives through pictures or tweets (among gen Z and millenials at the very least. I don’t know about you, but my granddad shares his opinions on Facebook like there is no tomorrow). The social network has also been decreasing in overall popularity, as it is evident that less and less people use it, with many of us only keeping our profiles as a means of communication with family, people from high school or as a place to absorb our news intake.

In addition to this, there are already many successful and popular dating apps we already know and love, from Feeld and Hinge to Bumble and Tinder. It’s no secret, then, that Facebook is coming to this party a little late. It’s not a particularly ‘cool’ social media network, nor does it have a good reputation when it comes to data privacy. But Facebook isn’t trying to imitate the usual features of dating apps nor participate in the dating culture that these apps have created, or so it says.

Dating apps have changed dating as we know it, creating a culture of ghosting, leading on, and overall uncertainty within our relationships. The constant pursuit of something meaningful (or not) through swiping hundreds of people a day reminds us that there are more options out there, and that choosing to go on dates with strangers we virtually know nothing about is exhausting. Facebook Dating wants to change that. The company has access to information about its users’ location, jobs, education, hobbies, family members and even previous dating history, which would then make it easier to match them algorithmically according to all these factors. Essentially, making it easier to match with somebody you will have things in common with.

Users have the option to opt in or out of matching with their Facebook friend’s friends, and although it wouldn’t match them with their own Facebook friends, there is a feature titled ‘Secret Crush’. This feature allows users to select up to nine of their Facebook friends whom they have a crush on, and if it is reciprocated by them via their selection of secret crushes, Facebook notifies both parties. While it does sound sweet in its own odd and digital way, do we really want to share our crushes with Facebook? The same Facebook that sold our data to Cambridge Analytica?

While you and your secret Facebook crush might be a perfect match, data privacy and Facebook aren’t. Far from it, just last week over 419 million Facebook users’ phone numbers were leaked, as the server was not protected with a password, meaning anyone could access it. The company has been involved in so many scandals over data privacy in the past years, it would be almost gullible to trust the new dating service (after all, it does match you according to your data). That being said, if you’re too busy to think of complex passwords for your own accounts, why not try Avast’s random password generator? It might help.

So while you might be able to find love, or whatever it is you are looking for, doing it on Facebook comes with a high cost. So be ready to hand over your personal data. Is your secret crush worth it?

Keep On Reading

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Jeffree Star makes inappropriate comment after Kanye West posts disturbing incest confession

By Alma Fabiani

Amazon Music is giving away 4 months free. Here’s how to claim it

By Charlie Sawyer

Is Brooklyn Beckham feuding with his family? Rumours circulate after the chef skips his dad David Beckham’s 50th birthday

By Abby Amoakuh

Campaigners call for gamers who carry out virtual rape in the metaverse to be charged as real-life sex offenders

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Australian erotic novelist charged with child abuse material offenses after backlash over latest book

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

How incel TikTok accounts are rebranding to avoid getting banned

By Alma Fabiani

The disturbing TikTok trend sexualising fake Down syndrome faces using AI filters

By Eliza Frost

The Summer I Turned Pretty stars Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno caught in political drama

By Charlie Sawyer

Another female influencer has been punched in the head in New York. Is it the same attacker?

By Eliza Frost

Bad Bunny is not touring the US due to fear of ICE raids at concerts

By Abby Amoakuh

MrBeast faces new backlash as fans demand refunds for disastrous Las Vegas immersive experience

By Charlie Sawyer

UK women who miscarry could face home and phone searches following new anti-abortion police guidance

By Payton Turkeltaub

Do Gen Z secretly hate their boyfriends? TikTok’s viral #IHateMyBF says yes

By Charlie Sawyer

UK government’s new murder prediction tool draws comparison to Tom Cruise film, Minority Report

By Charlie Sawyer

Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper accuses former soccer coach of sexual harassment in new docuseries

By Charlie Sawyer

From breaking up families to spreading rumours about Joe Biden’s death, here’s what QAnons been up to

By Abby Amoakuh

The White Lotus star Sam Nivola speaks out about gay incest scene amid calls for boycott

By Charlie Sawyer

How rediscovering Nintendogs as an adult has helped my anxiety

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Inside the awful Instagram accounts exploiting stolen content to create AI Down syndrome models

By Abby Amoakuh

Aimee Lou Wood urges fans not to copy her teeth as DIY teeth filing trend rises on TikTok