Facebook moves in on £11bn lonely hearts prize
Details of new app leaked, revealing picture ban and ‘trans’ preferences
FOR years, dating apps have relied on Facebook profiles to share information between potential lovers.
Now the social media firm is preparing to launch its own dating service to cash in on the multi-billion pound lonely hearts industry.
Facebook was forced to reveal details after images of its app were leaked online.
Staff at the company’s Californian headquarters were invited to be guinea pigs to try to spot bugs and failings in the service. However, any hopes its workers might have had of romance were scuppered when their bosses told those who signed up for the test: “This is not meant for dating your coworkers.”
The app will allow people to choose whether they are sent profiles from five potential partner groups – “trans woman”, “woman”, “trans man”, “man” and “nonbinary people”. They can also choose to only meet those with mutual friends.
Workers were asked last week to log into the app and share “dummy” information to help spot glitches and refine its design, a testing process known as “dogfooding”, a reference to a dog food manufacturer who once claimed his product was so good he would eat it himself.
When it goes live, users will be able to match with those signed up on Facebook to attend the same events, such as concerts and festivals. They will be able to send private messages but not photos, to avoid a common complaint from those using Tinder, a rival app, where women reported receiving unsolicited sexual images.
In an attempt to protect privacy, only public information a user has on their Facebook profile will be shown to potential partners.
The app – a “standalone’ service similar to chat application Messenger – will even suggest “conversation starters” for those too nervous to make the first digital move.
Facebook declined to reveal the app’s launch date.
Mark Zuckerberg first announced plans to move into the lucrative matchmaking market earlier this year. The Tinder economy is worth £11.7bn in the UK alone, according to the most recent study from Lloyds TSB.
It is unclear whether Facebook will block other dating apps from using its profiles once it launches its own service.
Millennials are using dating apps, once synonymous with short-lived flings, to boost their increasingly freelance careers.
With a growing number of young people using the apps for professional networking companies have caught on.
Bumble has launched a business spin-off for its 36 million registered users, while the team behind Tinder has created professional network Ripple.
Mixer – a private networking app to connect freelancers working in film, music, art and fashion – has also enjoyed growing success since it began in 2015.