- On Thursday, Facebook launched its in-app dating feature Facebook Dating in the United States.
- In a statement, Nathan Sharp, the product manager for Facebook Dating, said the feature could help millions of singles connect.
- But certain aspects of Facebook Dating could also unintentionally make it a choice app for people looking to start affairs.
- When you create a profile in Facebook Dating, it removes your relationship status and won’t match you with existing friends from your regular Facebook profile.
Facebook’s new dating app has two features that may enable cheaters
On Thursday, Facebook rolled out its in-app dating feature Facebook Dating in the United States, making it the 20th country where the feature is available.
“More than 200 million people have listed themselves as single in their relationship status on Facebook,” Nathan Sharp, the product manager for the dating feature, said in a statement in when it first rolled out in Colombia.
“We view this as an incredible opportunity to continue helping people build relationships in meaningful ways on Facebook,” he added.
But certain aspects of the dating app may facilitate cheating, according to Paul Keable, the chief strategy officer at Ashley Madison, a website with the tag line “Life is short. Have an Affair.” He sees Facebook Dating, as well as other dating platforms like Tinder and Bumble, as competition for his service.
For one, the app duplicates your Facebook profile but removes your existing relationship status, meaning, like any dating app, you could easily join behind your partner’s back. Additionally, Facebook Dating doesn’t match you with any of your existing Facebook friends, meaning there’s a lower risk than with some other dating apps that you could get caught by your partner’s single friends who are also on the app.
Facebook Dating removes your relationship status, making it possible to use the app while staying in a “Facebook official” relationship
To use Facebook Dating, users can opt into the feature in the regular Facebook mobile app. (It appears you can’t access the dating feature through the desktop version of Facebook.)