How to use Facebook Dating
Facebook Dating launched in 2019 and while not that many people are using it, it is a decent option — especially for those who don't want to download yet another dating app or make a profile from scratch.
Here are all the details on how to set it up.
How to find Facebook Dating
Users access Facebook Dating through the Facebook app, which you probably already have on your phone. (You can only get to Dating on the company's iOS or Android app, not on desktop.)
AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections
Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups
On the Facebook app, navigate to the Menu on the bottom right. Dating will appear on the top right of the screen:
Facebook will prompt you to set up a Dating profile, if you haven't already. Since Facebook already has photos and some data about you, there's not much you have to do on this front, though you can edit information however you like.
The app asks some extra questions in your profile too, such as interests (sports, hobbies), whether you have kids, and your height:
Next, set up your match preferences. You can choose these based on age range, gender identity, height range (if you care about that sort of thing), languages spoken, and distance from you. You can also set preferences for someone's education level, whether they have kids, and their religious beliefs.
Like other dating apps, such as Bumble, Facebook asks what you're looking for in a relationship. Unlike Bumble, you can choose more than one option, and choices include just "chatting" and "friendship."
Once you set up your profile, you're ready to start matching. Facebook lifted the swiping feature from Tinder: swipe left to dislike; swipe right to like. Scroll down to see more of someone's profile.
On someone's profile, you can see whether a user has mutual friends with you. Facebook Dating has some additional features too, like matching with people who've participated in the same events as you or taking a second look at people you've passed up before. Find them by scrolling down on the initial Dating page in the app:
The Secret Crush feature lets you choose up to nine of your Facebook friends and Instagram followers you have a — what else — secret crush on. They'll be notified that someone added them as a secret crush in the app, and if you happen to have added each other as crushes, you'll match and your names will be revealed.
The Facebook Dating experience
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Facebook Dating. The profile options let you really display who you are and what you're looking for in a more robust way than other apps I've used, and Second Look and Secret Crush are unique features I hadn't seen elsewhere.
Facebook Dating has swiping just like Tinder, Bumble, and many other apps, so its learning curve is pretty flat as well.
The rub is that the people you meet on Facebook Dating are likely people who are on Facebook a lot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Facebook's demographics skew older. There likely won't be as many young singles eager to date as on Tinder. And, as I noted above, not many people are using Facebook Dating as of mid-2021.
You also run the risk of seeing people you have mutual friends with, which can be a pro or a con, depending on what you want out of the experience. If you're close with the mutual friend, for example, that could be a great conversation starter. Or, seeing mutual friends can make you cringe so hard that it's a turn off.
From what I saw, I could find some quality matches (meaning, people I would want to meet) on the app, but given the small number of users I don't know how long that would hold up.
What's more, since Dating is baked into the regular Facebook app, Dating notifications blend in with other notifications. As someone who uses Facebook solely to keep up with Groups these days, I'm not a big fan of Dating pings mixing with Group pings:
If you don't mind those sticking points, however, Facebook Dating is a fine option to add to your methods of finding a date. It's easy to set up and search for the kind of connection you want.
With some luck, maybe you'll even make it Facebook official.
Related Video: We asked over 1,000 people about their post-COVID dating plans
Topics Facebook
Anna Iovine is the associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on Bluesky.
