4 ms·

This seems like something they should have added ten plus years ago, when their demo was primarily college kids. I know many people who were clamoring for it a

by donatj 7y ago

This seems like something they should have added ten plus years ago, when their demo was primarily college kids. I know many people who were clamoring for it at the time. It would have been an obvious addition as dating and relationships were a large part of the reason a lot of people used Facebook. I half suspect this is an attempt to pull college kids back into Facebook. I think they missed their chance with this by a long shot.

roland35 7y ago
I agree! It seemed like a no-brainer back around 2010 but now with all of the bad press it seems less desirable to put your dating life on Facebook.
- kylel 7y ago
  This was a while ago, but I think in its early days Tinder was just an app on Facebook where you would “like” people on your friends list. If they “liked” you back the app would indicate a match. I always thought this was a really cool feature, and I wish they kept it. It felt more personal.
  - yorwba 7y ago
    I think you mean https://www.reciprocity.io/ https://www.reciprocity.io/ which is unrelated to Tinder.
  - mdrzn 7y ago
    I think you mean Bang with Friends
jrnichols 7y ago
i agree with that. it almost seems like they're throwing their weight into an already way overcrowded market. but it's still too early to tell - how is Facebook Marketplace doing against 5mile/LetItGo/etc? Facebook's massive user base might make this a success. Depending on whether or not there's a fee involved.
- basch 7y ago
  Is it that overcrowded? IAC and Spark own basically everything. Its like Ford and Chevy having 20 subbrands, but no one else makes cars.
  - jrnichols 7y ago
    when things devolve into such specific niches as "farmersonly" and 'blackpeoplemeet" and stuff like that, I figure that it's overcrowded. The iTunes App Store alone has at least a dozen. Many of them non-IAC too. It's a lot.
ritchiea 7y ago
That might have worked but college students already used FB as a defacto dating app and facebook still grew to be a monopoly without that feature. Now that facebook is out of favor with young people this might be a good way to increase engagement with older single people.
pavlov 7y ago
Many of the college kids of 2005 are now divorced, with kids, and desperately trying to fit dating into their busy lives. I suspect that's a market potentially more easily attracted by the relative convenience of Facebook Dating compared to other services where you have to do more work to build up a profile and figure out UI, etiquette, etc.
jayd16 7y ago
No way. This is looking at yesterday's decisions from today's zeitgeist. Without Grindr and Tinder and the other apps paving the way culturally, Facebook date would have creeped out their user base.
paxys 7y ago
This is what Facebook was ten years ago. The problem is dating wasn't as successfully monetized as it is today. Tinder/Bumble/CMB etc. have cracked that code, and Facebook wants to get in on it.
- WhompingWindows 7y ago
  How is that correct? 10 years ago, it was mostly young folks, college, HS, 20-somethings. There was a good deal of dating-related activity happening, but the vast majority of FB back then was not related to dating.
  - paxys 7y ago
    The scene in The Social Network about adding relationship status to users' profile sums it up perfectly. Facebook was a large catalog of your friends, friends' friends, classmates, coworkers etc., and showed you their profiles, pictures, if they were dating, who they were dating, their interests and more. Facebook was the largest dating site in the world the moment it got popular.
    - kelnos 7y ago
      I don't agree. Allowing someone to list their relationship status on their otherwise-non-dating-site profile is a far far cry from providing tools and UX to help people match with others they might be interested in. Certainly people have found romantic partners on FB in the past 15 years, but I would view that as in spite of the lack of dating-related features. Up until now, FB has not been geared toward or especially useful as a dating platform, especially given the availability of dating apps that actually fill that niche. I think FB Dating has the potential to be way more successful to a mainstream audience than nearly any dating app built to date, though.
      - MegaButts 7y ago
        I can't believe you guys are arguing over whether or not Facebook used to be a dating site and nobody has mentioned the "poke" button.
phil248 7y ago
Older people need to date too. Maybe that's part of their angle? The existing dating app ecosystem doesn't seem great for older demographics.
cdolan 7y ago
I disagree. Do you know how hard it is to meet new people after the age of 25? The statistics, historically, are not in your favor! Dating and social apps have made it far easier for busy people, who lack 8 hours a day to socialize with others on a campus/forum, to organize dinner, dates, etc.

by donatj 7y ago

roland35 7y ago

I agree! It seemed like a no-brainer back around 2010 but now with all of the bad press it seems less desirable to put your dating life on Facebook.

kylel 7y ago
This was a while ago, but I think in its early days Tinder was just an app on Facebook where you would “like” people on your friends list. If they “liked” you back the app would indicate a match. I always thought this was a really cool feature, and I wish they kept it. It felt more personal.
- yorwba 7y ago
  I think you mean https://www.reciprocity.io/ https://www.reciprocity.io/ which is unrelated to Tinder.
- mdrzn 7y ago
  I think you mean Bang with Friends

jrnichols 7y ago

i agree with that. it almost seems like they're throwing their weight into an already way overcrowded market. but it's still too early to tell - how is Facebook Marketplace doing against 5mile/LetItGo/etc? Facebook's massive user base might make this a success. Depending on whether or not there's a fee involved.

basch 7y ago
Is it that overcrowded? IAC and Spark own basically everything. Its like Ford and Chevy having 20 subbrands, but no one else makes cars.
- jrnichols 7y ago
  when things devolve into such specific niches as "farmersonly" and 'blackpeoplemeet" and stuff like that, I figure that it's overcrowded. The iTunes App Store alone has at least a dozen. Many of them non-IAC too. It's a lot.

ritchiea 7y ago

That might have worked but college students already used FB as a defacto dating app and facebook still grew to be a monopoly without that feature. Now that facebook is out of favor with young people this might be a good way to increase engagement with older single people.

pavlov 7y ago

Many of the college kids of 2005 are now divorced, with kids, and desperately trying to fit dating into their busy lives. I suspect that's a market potentially more easily attracted by the relative convenience of Facebook Dating compared to other services where you have to do more work to build up a profile and figure out UI, etiquette, etc.

jayd16 7y ago

No way. This is looking at yesterday's decisions from today's zeitgeist. Without Grindr and Tinder and the other apps paving the way culturally, Facebook date would have creeped out their user base.

paxys 7y ago

This is what Facebook was ten years ago. The problem is dating wasn't as successfully monetized as it is today. Tinder/Bumble/CMB etc. have cracked that code, and Facebook wants to get in on it.

WhompingWindows 7y ago
How is that correct? 10 years ago, it was mostly young folks, college, HS, 20-somethings. There was a good deal of dating-related activity happening, but the vast majority of FB back then was not related to dating.
- paxys 7y ago
  The scene in The Social Network about adding relationship status to users' profile sums it up perfectly. Facebook was a large catalog of your friends, friends' friends, classmates, coworkers etc., and showed you their profiles, pictures, if they were dating, who they were dating, their interests and more. Facebook was the largest dating site in the world the moment it got popular.
  - kelnos 7y ago
    I don't agree. Allowing someone to list their relationship status on their otherwise-non-dating-site profile is a far far cry from providing tools and UX to help people match with others they might be interested in. Certainly people have found romantic partners on FB in the past 15 years, but I would view that as in spite of the lack of dating-related features. Up until now, FB has not been geared toward or especially useful as a dating platform, especially given the availability of dating apps that actually fill that niche. I think FB Dating has the potential to be way more successful to a mainstream audience than nearly any dating app built to date, though.
    - MegaButts 7y ago
      I can't believe you guys are arguing over whether or not Facebook used to be a dating site and nobody has mentioned the "poke" button.

phil248 7y ago

Older people need to date too. Maybe that's part of their angle? The existing dating app ecosystem doesn't seem great for older demographics.

cdolan 7y ago

I disagree. Do you know how hard it is to meet new people after the age of 25? The statistics, historically, are not in your favor! Dating and social apps have made it far easier for busy people, who lack 8 hours a day to socialize with others on a campus/forum, to organize dinner, dates, etc.