When we talk about apps and services that let you find "love" online, the first thing that comes to mind is Tinder. However, Facebook wants to change all that, and after launching Dating in the United States, it was Spain's turn with Facebook Dating. Here's everything this Tinder rival offers, allowing you to flirt remotely and eventually meet your soulmate.
What is Facebook Couples
Facebook Couples is the new functionality or service that Mark Zuckerberg's company has integrated into its well-known social network. A tool that had already been launched previously in the United States and other countries under the name of Dating.
The idea behind Facebook Dating is identical to that of Tinder , although it may seem somewhat less aggressive to many users looking for love online. And that could work in its favor, because even today some people don't dare create a profile on this popular dating service due to its negative connotations for many.
Of course, these prejudices should also be eliminated, because not everyone who is on Tinder is looking for fleeting relationships or everyone who will be on Facebook Movie love couples. In the end, these are nothing more than tools that depend on the use that the users themselves give them. But hey, let's keep moving forward.
Facebook Dating is integrated within the Facebook app itself , so you don't need to download anything. Or rather, all you have to do is update to the latest version of Facebook for iOS and Android. From there, look for the new Dating section (indicated by a heart icon) within the three-line menu you'll see in the app's interface.
Who can access Facebook Couples?
As with any other platform, there are a few minimum requirements you must meet to access, in this case, Facebook's matchmaking version . As we've already mentioned, you won't need to do anything unusual with your regular account, the one you use to keep up with what your family and friends are doing on the social network.
So these are the requirements that you must meet:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- That your Facebook account has a minimum age of 30 days and is, as they point out from Meta, "in order".
- You live in one of the countries where Facebook Couples is available, which are: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Spain, Estonia, Finland , France, Germany, Guyana, Hungary, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Laos, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Suriname, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay and Vietnam.
Is Facebook Couples not showing up in your app?
If you meet all the requirements listed above but don't see the dating section in your Facebook app to sign up , then you should check beforehand, as the service remains active and working without problems in Spain for all users seeking a relationship through the social network. So, what could be preventing you from accessing it?
The answer to this problem lies in the version of Facebook you have installed. If your smartphone is a few years old and you've disabled automatic updates to avoid running out of storage space, you might not have access. Therefore, you should go to the Google Play Store or the iOS App Store and verify that you're using the latest version of the app for your operating system.
If you find that you don't even have access using the latest release available for your old OS, then you might want to consider whether you need a new smartphone with an updated version of iOS and Android capable of running the latest apps published by Facebook.
First steps in Facebook Couples
With less friction and a "violent" feeling compared to using Tinder, Facebook Couples will allow you to meet other people and from there, whatever comes up. The approach is somewhat different from other dating apps, and therefore we want to show you how to use it well.
How does Facebook Couples work?
Lets start by the beginning. Being integrated into Facebook, all you have to do is access Couples.
The first time you do this, you will have to answer a series of initial questions that will serve as a starting point for a first approach to those other users who live in your area and share some common interests.
The first thing you'll be asked for is information about your name, age, job, and preferences . By default, it will show the information you already have on your Facebook profile, but you can change it if you want. Sometimes we don't share everything we really like publicly.
Once that first step is already taken, you have to continue answering other questions, where you are asked for things like what languages do you speak or what are you looking for. You know, if you want a friendly relationship, something informal, stable, just to talk, etc. Likewise, you will also have to indicate if you are looking for a man, a woman or you are indifferent.
These questions are all helpful to get started, but you can skip them if you don't want to answer them . However, depending on where you live, your chances of finding someone compatible might be reduced if you don't. Regardless of your choice, you can edit all of this at any time from your profile.
After a few more personal questions, you'll be ready to start searching and also be found by other people using the new service, even in other cities (two locations beyond the usual one) because unlike the first few months, Facebook Dating has no geographical limitations: you can search in cities other than your own.
Similarly, another improvement that has been added over time is the ability to send audio messages to the people we connect with , so that we can have a kind of conversation where they can hear us and respond in a more natural way, not so constrained by the cold text chats where the tone and intention are often not perceived (we almost always tend to get the worst possible interpretation, which produces misunderstandings and confusion).
But now comes the key question: who can find you within Facebook Dating? Any profile you have in your Facebook contacts?
Facebook Couples and your contacts or friends
When it comes to online dating, many prejudices still exist, leading some people to prefer to hide their use of services like Tinder. Therefore, in the case of Facebook Dating, the company has decided to isolate you from your Facebook contacts or friends.
Even so, it's important to know who can and cannot see your Dating profile.
To begin, anyone on your friends list won't be able to see your Facebook Dating profile . This also applies to people you choose to block for any reason. Other users who join Dating will be able to see your profile until you block or add them as a friend on your main Facebook account.
However, there's an exception, which they call Secret Passion : a list of up to nine Facebook friends you're attracted to. If they like you too, you'll know.
How the “Secret Passion” feature works on Facebook Couples
If your secret crush is among the people you know, and it turns out they like you too, but you don't say so out of embarrassment or whatever, Facebook Dating will try to help you with that.
With this feature, you can choose nine friends you like, from both Facebook and Instagram (if you've connected the app ). Here's what happens:
- If you have marked a person as Secret Passion, but she has not marked you, nothing happens, your love is still protected from making a fool of yourself.
- If the other person has activated Secret Passion and marked you, so that you both told Facebook that you secretly like each other, the dating app makes a match and reveals that "love" is mutual.
In this way, as you can see, your secret will be safe, unless the other person you know reciprocates.
How to flirt on Facebook Couples
If you've ever used Tinder or heard about how it works, you'll be familiar with the term " Match ." This simply means you start browsing other users' profiles, like scrolling through an Instagram feed , and when you find someone you like, you click "Match" to see if it leads to something more.
On Facebook Dating, flirting involves conversation . You have to send an initial message, which will arrive along with your profile picture, to that new user. It's similar to how you would make that first approach in real life. The difference is that you're somewhat more protected by your device's screen, but you'll still have to chat if you want things to progress smoothly.
Otherwise, there aren't many more secrets to this new option with which Facebook aims to offer a real alternative to Tinder, with its own advantages and a few disadvantages depending on how you look at it. Well, actually, there is one: these Facebook Dating profiles can be created and deleted at any time without having to deactivate your entire Facebook profile.
Facebook Couples vs Tinder, which is better?
Tinder is and will continue to be the most popular dating app for a long time , yet many users have been somewhat disappointed after trying it. This is because the mechanism feels somewhat unnatural. Basically, you end up liking other people based solely on their appearance, which is understandable, but between that and bad experiences with fake profiles, many end up quitting.
Facebook Dating, on the other hand, seems more personal and human , or at least that's what it tries to be with that initial approach, which simulates what you'd do anywhere you met someone you were attracted to: approach them and talk. Furthermore, one of the things people really like about Facebook's dating app is that you can revisit profiles that you may have liked at some point, or that didn't quite appeal to you for some reason, but that you want to see again.
This detail is important and is undoubtedly liked, because on Tinder sometimes you reject a profile for going too fast and there is no longer an option to recover it. That does not happen in real life and it is normal that if you see someone you like, you try to meet more times to see if you can have a first contact.
Therefore, although you will have the last word, we would tell you that trying Facebook Couples is worth it. For those subtle differences compared to Tinder that could fit better into the idea of finding a partner online that you may have.
Some Frequently Asked Questions about Facebook Dating
The app is a good idea, but it's scary. Mixing friends, family, and romantic interests in one place is a minefield and a lottery for getting into an awkward situation. That's why Facebook Dating tries to prevent that, for example, with mechanisms like the one we explained about "Secret Passion." However, doubts about how it works still exist, and that's understandable.
We solve the main ones for you.
What is the relationship between my Facebook profile and my Facebook Couples profile?
In principle , they are isolated, except for the "Secret Passion" section , which does connect Couples to the main profile through those 9 maximum contact points. However, if you don't use it, there shouldn't be any connection.
Similarly, if you delete your Facebook Dating profile because you haven't found love, your main Facebook profile isn't affected at all (remember, it's isolated for privacy). However, if you delete your main Facebook profile, you'll also delete your Facebook Dating profile for obvious reasons.
What other privacy and security options do I have in Facebook Dating?
To avoid stepping on those minefields we were talking about, and to prevent friends or family from finding out about romantic escapades you don't want them to know, you can disable the "Suggest friends of friends" option . This way, you block that potential escape route.
For that:
- Go to the Facebook app and the couples section of the menu (with the heart icon).
- Go to the options (gear icon).
- Choose "General".
- On the screen that comes up, scroll down until you see "Privacy settings» and touch there.
- Deactivate the option «Suggest friends of friends» that appears.
Similarly, you can easily block anyone on Facebook Dating.
How do I increase my chances of finding love on Facebook Dating?
Don't say we don't help you find love. Part of it depends on your profile preferences, what you tell it, and whether or not you've enabled the "Suggest Friends of Friends" option. Turning it off reduces your chances, of course, but another part depends on Facebook's algorithm , which tries to predict who you'll get along with.
Much of that criterion is determined by shared interests . So, while we don't know exactly how the algorithm works, the more interests you signal to it—the more events you mark as attending or having attended, etc. —the more data you're giving the algorithm.
In other words, in Facebook Dating, just like in real life, if you behave like an amoeba that doesn't do or say anything on the platform, your odds go down. More activity on the general Facebook means more possibilities.
Another way Zuckemberg wants you to spend more time in his dystopia.
As you can see, Facebook wants you to find love in exchange for feeding it more and more data . At least they've tried to hide the privacy concerns and the embarrassment you'll face in front of your parents and your cousin from the village, making it another option for discovering your soulmate.