Facebook Dating, the new tool of the social media, has been working in Colombia for a week now. We tell you our first impressions

On September 20, Facebook launched its new feature in Colombia: Facebook Dating. According to Semana, Mark Zuckerberg presented the new tool during the F8, the event of social network developers.

Leer en español: ¡Solo para Colombia! Encuentra el amor con Facebook Dating

This app could become the competition for the one that is ahead in the world of dating: Tinder. Here, we tell you the step by step to open a profile and our first impressions about this news from Facebook that is only in Colombia.

How does Facebook Dating work?

From a Facebook profile, you can create a Facebook Dating profile, which will work independently. In the configuration of Facebook, it is easy to access by the icon of 'Appointments'. When creating the profile, the social media warns that it is independent of the existing Facebook profile and that what you do in one will not affect the other. In fact, your Facebook friends will not know that you use the dating function, because this tool will not publish anything in your profile.

The first thing you must do is activate the GPS and give the app permission to access the location, because, like Tinder, it is about presenting the user people who are nearby. The user must also inform about the gender with which he identifies and to which he feels attracted. At this point, you can choose more than one option. In addition, the function gives more option in addition to the binary genres.

After this step, tehe next one is to upload a photo. The app will clarify again that if you delete a photo of the dating tool, it will not be removed from your profile in the social media and vice versa. The following screenshot will be very similar to the profile of Tinder: a main photo and a secondary one followed by a space to make a brief presentation of himself. Next, the app invites you to give information about:

• Name
• Age
• Gender
• Position
• Company
• High school
• College
• Posgraduate school
• Hometown
• Children
• Religious beliefs
• Height

The user, of course, may refuse to answer any of these questions or may also answer them but choose not to be visible to other users. After completing the profile, you can answer these same questions about your ideal date in the 'Preferences' section.

In the feed, the app will present appointment options in the area and you can choose your preferences and start a conversation. Facebook Dating has three main columns: the one that allows you to edit your profile, the one where you leave the date suggestions, and one of conversations.

Also read: Have you always wanted to be an emoji? Now it is possible with these applications

How is it different from Tinder?

Facebook Dating will avoid showing your Facebook friends. This is for privacy, on the one hand, and on the other, because the idea is to introduce you to new people. Unlike Tinder, whose profile is incorporated with Instagram. Facebook already has a lot of information about its users.

This is where it can take the lead, because although the two profiles work independently, they are incorporated. Thus, the dating tool may take information from the Facebook profile to show you people with your same interests and aspirations.

The Facebook function, in addition, has a different approach from that of Tinder. While the application is used mostly for casual sexual encounters, the function this app is more focused on finding candidates for a long-term relationship. This is why, unlike Tinder, Dating will suggest people based on the answers you have given in a questionnaire of about 20 questions and geolocation, but not in appearance. The user can start a conversation according to their interests in common and not according to a photo, although this will also be visible.

Why is Facebook Dating in Colombia?

Mark Zuckerberg said in the presentation of Dating that there are 200 million people who identify themselves as single on Facebook and that this can be an alternative to meet new people.

According to Nathan Sharp, product manager, in an interview for El Tiempo, Colombia was chosen to be the pilot of Dating because it meets the ideal characteristics for this type of tools: it is a consumer country of technology, its inhabitants are frequent users of dating apps, and they easily accept a blind date.

In Colombia, there are more than 30 million Facebook users to which the social network already offered the new tool. Since a week ago, Colombians began to create profiles, but it will not be until a while, when there are already enough users, who will be able to make the first matches, do you dare to try it?

LatinAmerican Post | Juliana Rodríguez
Translated from “Facebook Dating: la nueva app para encontrar el amor se estrena en Colombia”

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