Aranya Doloi
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Dating is no less complicated than it was in the past; all that has changed is the frequency at which the complication occurs. And of course if another thing has changed drastically, that’s how people meet nowadays. Couples hardly meet in real life before getting into a relationship; the internet does the work for them. And if you’re single, it’s impossible that you haven’t heard of Tinder, Bumble or OkCupid. Online dating makes it so easy for you to find the ‘one person’ who is on the same wavelength as you, to the point where’s it’s actually freaks you out. And now, there’s another app, another famous social media platform that has jumped into the online dating services- Facebook.
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Facebook Dating is a brand new feature currently being rolled out by the social media giant. This initiative by Facebook allows users to curate a separate, completely private profile on the platform in order to connect to other singles who have also signed up to use the dating feature. However, even if your dating profile is completely separate from your Facebook profile, the feature will still use data from your main account to better match you with people based on your interests. Facebook Dating has already been launched in Colombia, Thailand, Argentina and Mexico and is slowly expanding to more countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Brazil, Vietnam and the Philippines. The feature is set to release later this year in the U.S., U.K. and Australia.
However, Facebook Dating has something new that no other dating app boasts off. The feature will allow you to directly connect with your real-life friends. A nifty new mechanism called ‘Secret Crush’ has been built into the dating app to let you send a secret notification to people you’re crushing on in real life. Yess, that’s right! You can select up to nine of your current Facebook friends who will be notified about their secret admirer. But this will work only if your crush too has signed up to the dating service. And to know this, you have to send that sneaky signal because Facebook won’t reveal a thing. And if your suitor has signed up and also added you to his/her crush list, it’s a MATCH. Yikkesss!!!
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Facebook Dating is both a genius and alarming concept at the same time. Conversations are restricted to text-only, so no worries about ‘accidental’ nudes. However the feature encourages real-life interactions by listing a selection of events that are open to attendance for the couple. In contrast to other dating apps, Facebook Dating also gives you comfort with the fact that you won’t be linking with some total stranger after all; you can always go with the ‘friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend’.
But the truth is always uglier than the fiction. While Facebook Dating may be painting a rosy picture of love, but it’s approach to bringing together people romantically seems like a little too stringent. In case, you’re a person with unique interests and a really intimate social circle, chances are you might find a near-empty suggestions list. Also imagine the rumour mill when God forbid, nine of your friends realize they are all in your ‘Secret Crush’ pool.
Of course, we take into consideration that the feature is still a new one and problems will go away and updates will come with time. While one shouldn’t be comprehensive when it comes to searching for a potential life partner, it can come across as a bit of a buzzkill on a digital app.
