Everyone knows Facebook to be one of the social media platforms where you can connect with your friends and even make new ones. And with the multitude of online dating platforms, it’s no surprise that Meta – the company who owns Facebook – is taking a dive into romance too.
Meta’s answer to help you find some love in your life? Facebook Dating.
This is our comprehensive Facebook Dating review so you can decide whether it is worth activating the app within an app (Facebook Dating resides in your Facebook app) or whether you need to look for love elsewhere.
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What Is Facebook Dating Exactly?
Facebook Dating is part of Facebook, but it’s an app within the traditional Facebook app. The purpose of Facebook Dating is to help you find singles who have similar interests and hobbies as you do.
The app suggests matches: people who are into the same events, groups, etc. as you. Once you both like each other, you’re properly matched and can start chatting in the Facebook Dating app.
Facebook Dating was launched in 2018 in Colombia and 14 other countries, including Argentina, Mexico, and Thailand. The dating app was released for the US market in 2019, and it was only late in 2020 that Europeans had access to Facebook Dating.
Facebook Dating isn’t available to the whole world yet – sorry to those living in Africa, Asia, and many other countries.
New features like virtual dates become available in August 2021 to keep up with life post-lockdown and while we live with the pandemic.
The app is only available on your smart device and not on a desktop internet browser.
Facebook Dating is completely free, so this is good news for anyone who doesn’t want to spend money on dating apps.
How Do I Create a Facebook Dating Profile?
Creating a dating profile on Facebook isn’t like how you’d create a profile on most other online dating platforms. Since Facebook Dating and your Facebook accounts are linked, there is only some information you need to add.
When you want to activate Facebook Dating, go to your Facebook app. Go to Menu > find Dating (it has a heart icon) in “All Shortcuts.” Tap on Dating.
From there, you need to select your gender, who you are interested in, and read some T&Cs stuff. You can’t change your name or age, but you can edit your location, job, and education information.
Next, you can choose your dating preferences. “Who you want to date” will prompt some answers, and these will be visible on your dating profile. For example, you can choose the height of your love interest and whether or not you want kids. There are also Facebook Dating tiles with “Answer a prompt…” like “The best thing I can cook is…” or “My favorite time of the day is…”
It isn’t mandatory to fill these out when you sign up, and you can always change the answers in Settings.
When you edit your profile, you can also add an introduction to say who you are and what you are looking for in a romantic partner.
Then, you need to choose a maximum of 9 profile photos. Once that’s done, you are in the Facebook Dating pool, so start swiping and find your love.
How Do I Delete My Facebook Dating Profile?
Follow these steps to delete your Facebook Dating profile:
- Open your Facebook app on your phone or tablet.
- Tap on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the bottom right of the screen.
- Under “All Shortcuts,” find the Facebook Dating icon.
- Tap on Facebook Dating.
- In Facebook Dating, tap on Settings at the top right.
- Tap on General.
- Tap on Delete Profile. You’ll have to scroll down a bit.
- Tap Delete.
When you delete your Facebook Dating profile, it’s worth noting that you’re deleting your answers, matches, likes, and conversations. However, your conversations will still be in whomever you’ve been messaging’s inbox.
If you delete your Facebook account, you’ll be deleting your Facebook Dating profile. However, if you only delete your Facebook Dating profile, you can still access your normal Facebook account and rejoin Facebook Dating at a later stage – if you want. You need to wait at least 7 days before you can create a new Facebook Dating profile.
Can Your Friends See You on Facebook Dating?
Your Facebook friends cannot see you on Facebook Dating.
The good news is that your normal Facebook profile won’t ever be influenced by your Facebook Dating profile.
That means that your Dating profile isn’t visible to anyone on your regular Facebook profile, and Facebook Dating won’t post anything to your newsfeed or share who you are chatting up in Dating.
Facebook friends won’t come up as matches either, so you don’t need to worry about your friends finding you on Facebook Dating.
You have the option to choose whether you want friends of friends to pop up as potential matches. You can access all of these settings and more in the Privacy section.
Is Facebook Dating a Flop?
Facebook Dating isn’t as big as many of the other online dating sites. In fact, most people don’t even know that Facebook Dating is a thing. The implications of this is that there’s a much smaller dating pool on Facebook Dating, which impacts how many matches you can have.
Plus, while you don’t necessarily want to choose from millions of matches to find THE ONE, having only a few potential love interests isn’t good news either. You may be lucky and find love, and you may strike out.
User reviews actually complain that in some areas, there aren’t any match results. That means there aren’t any bad matches, and nor are there any good matches.
So while Facebook Dating isn’t a complete flop – I mean, the app still exists and works – it isn’t as big as Meta was hoping it’d be. But who knows. Maybe Meta has big future plans for Facebook Dating the more the company delves into the Metaverse.
Facebook Dating Scams: Are There Fake Profiles?
A key concern for many is that Facebook Dating has opened yet another avenue for scammers and fakers to try and con people.
Unfortunately, you’ll find fake profiles on Facebook Dating – just like you would on any other online dating service. Fortunately, you can identify fake profiles and take steps to protect yourself from getting scammed.
Romance scams are increasing every year.
In the past five years, victims of dating and romance scams have lost US$1.3 billion. And sadly, that’s just the reported losses.
Many victims don’t report that they’ve been on the bad end of a romance scam because they are embarrassed and don’t even know what to do. They are heartbroken that the person they thought was their soulmate was only in it to gain something – money or access to their identity.
Scams on Facebook Dating (or other dating platforms) typically start the same way:
- The romance scam artist creates a fake Facebook Dating profile, and the profile is aimed to look attractive to catch the attention of those who are looking for romance and easier to scam. Unfortunately, 50+ singles are a weak link.
- Once a match is made (both parties like each other), they’ll start chatting.
- The scammer will share details about their life that’s aimed to pull at the heartstrings of their victim. They have a sad story they share, and eventually, they ask for “help” - money or an investment into cryptocurrencies or similar.
- They may ask for help a few weeks after they’ve started chatting up the would-be victim, or it can even be months later. Longer dating scams are known as long cons.
- Sometimes, once the victim has sent money or help, the scammer vanishes. Other times, they keep coming back for more and blackmails the victim into sending them more and more money.
This is why it’s so important that everyone be aware of scams and know what to look out for.
Final Thoughts: Not the Best Dating App on the Market
Yip, Facebook Dating isn’t the best online dating app on the market.
For one, there aren’t enough good matches in many areas, so even though you are looking for love, it won’t be found on Facebook Dating.
Secondly, there are quite a lot of fake profiles on the app, and while you can report it when you suspect that a scammer has reached out, it’s best to look for love on online dating services that have proven results in the love department.
eHarmony is one such a site you can use when you are looking for your soulmate.
If you are curious about eHarmony and would like to learn more, check out:
- The full guide to how eHarmony works
- A comprehensive review on eHarmony and what makes it a good online dating platform
- A detailed article on what eHarmony costs
Good luck finding your soulmate!
Last updated 18.09.2023
