You are looking for the soul mate and apps like Tinder don’t satisfy you? There’s a new service in town and none other than Mark Zuckerberg’s “old fox” is offering it: welcome to Facebook Dating . The new service, integrated into the social network (it is not a separate app and you must enable it ), lands practically all over Europe, Italy included.

According to the social network, since Facebook Dating made its debut in 20 countries in the past years, over 1.5 billion “matches” were created , or two people came into contact to learn more mutual knowledge. “We want to help people find relationships of value through things they have in common like interests, events and groups “, states Facebook.

How to create a Facebook Dating profile

Update the Facebook app and a small rectangle with the heart and the word Dating should appear in the menu. Clicking on it will start the process to configure your profile (photos, interests, etc.). The rollout of the feature is in progress and therefore there may be problems of various kinds and Dating may not appear at all. In this case you can try to activate the feature by opening this page with the Facebook app, then clicking on Get Started .

What Facebook Dating offers

Once you have created a profile, Facebook Dating offers you different features to make you “more attractive” and tell who you are to other people. In “ Stories ” you can share moments of your everyday life in order to find a relationship of value with someone with the same interests. You can also share Instagram or Facebook Stories on Dating .

A ‘ another feature is called “ Secret Crush ” ( Secret Passions ) and allows you to explore potential relationships with people you already know on Facebook and / or Instagram . Facebook Dating doesn’t suggest your Facebook friends as potential “matches”, but if you choose to use Secret Crush, you can select up to nine of your Facebook friends or Instagram followers. you are interested in . If one of these people puts you in turn in their “Secret Crush” list, the match will be unlocked.

Definitely an interesting function for the shy ones , who don’t dare ask the person they have an interest in if the interest is mutual: Secret Crush could reserve big surprises. Facebook says that if the person you have a crush on isn’t on Dating, doesn’t make a list, or doesn’t put you on the list, they’ll never know you put them on your list.

The only one problem we see is that someone might start adding people to their list without a specific interest, just to see who they picked it from. But we hope that doesn’t happen, for some it could be a cruel game.

Facebook Dating allows you to find other people who use the service with similar interests to yours by allowing the viewing of Events and Groups of mutual interest. “So, if you are looking for a dog-loving companion, you can see others who they use Dating which are also in the pet owner groups you are in, “explains Facebook.

Then there are the “ Virtual Dates “( Video Appointments ), that is virtual meetings on video with your matches using the Messenger platform. Starting a call will bring up an invitation to your match, which it can accept or not (your photo and name is shown) to get to know you better.

Finally, Facebook has security and privacy , posting safety tips and creating protections in Facebook Dating, including the ability to report and block anyone , as well as preventing people from posting photos, links, payments or videos in messages. “We will not suggest current Facebook friends as potential matches or inform them that you have signed up for Dating. Your dating profile, messages and people you like or have a match with will not appear in the Facebook news feed.” , emphasizes the company.

Facebook Dating also complies with the European GDPR and allows you to pause or delete your profile. The social network uses data related to the activity on Dating to show ads on Facebook and Instagram “targeted”, except for information on preferences