Facebook employees have begun internal testing of its new Dating feature. The company was forced to confirm this after Jane Manchung Wong, an app researcher, revealed screenshots of the sign up process on Twitter on August 3rd.
CNET reported that a Facebook spokesperson said: “We are testing Facebook Dating internally, but we don’t have anything more to share right now.”
Facebook is internally testing Facebook Dating.
I can’t go past the signup screen because they are not activating all non-employee Dating profiles because, well, it’s “pre-launch” 😉 pic.twitter.com/VQFHUJIkuX
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) August 3, 2018
One of the screenshots shows a notice for the employees, all of whom opted into the testing process, which reminded them: “The purpose for this dogfooding is to test the end-to-end product experience for bugs and confusing UI. This is not meant for dating your coworkers.”
Facebook Dating will not be a standalone app, but will instead work within the original Facebook app and desktop layouts.
Users will be able to able to keep their regular profile and dating profile separate. No details will be shared to their news feed. Also, friends will not be suggested to one another and consumers can decide whether or not they want their profile to be visible to people they have mutual friends with.
The feature appears to have a mature vibe, which is consistent with the aim that it will be used to form lasting relationships – an ideology that was expressed by Mark Zuckerburg when he announced Facebook Dating in May.
Furthermore, there will be no swiping, but instead users will have to “express interest” in other people. Conversations will be activated if the interest in reciprocated. Facebook is considering limiting the amount of times a user can express interest in order to reduce spamming behaviour.
One of the standout details that was revealed is that there will be five gender and multiple preference options to choose from. This will likely increase popularity in the LGBTQ community and could encourage more signups.
TechCrunch details that the service not have any subscription features or any adverts, although that could change by the time of release.
It’s still unclear how much of an impact Facebook Dating will have on the reputation of Tinder and Match Group. However, Seeking Alpha posted that MTCH stock fell by 2.1% in after hours trading following the release of the screenshots, and it is predicted to fall even further over the coming days.
There is still no public release date for Facebook Dating.
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