Facebook Couples -also called Facebook Dating- is the Facebook tool to meet new people and flirt between users of the social network. It was launched in 2018 in Colombia and, from there, it went to other Latin American countries and up to twenty countries in the testing phase .
It is estimated that, in large cities like New York, Facebook Couples can be used by 7% of single people
It was in September 2019 when it was officially launched in the United States, and Europe arrived only a few months later, after several delays due to the reluctance of the Irish regulatory body regarding the treatment of the use of user data.
Since then, it is a feature available that not too many users have started using. Despite the fact that to use it it is necessary to create an independent profile (although you can use the photos from the Facebook profile, the Couples profile is not connected), its use is completely anonymous and friends on the social network do not have to know that you are looking for a partner or meet people to flirt, since it is not notified at any time.
However, some users may still be reticent and not use the “just in case” feature. Another reason may be errors in the service, which often crashes or displays users who do not meet the search requirements set in the profile settings.
Furthermore, if few users use it, there is little chance of “finding love” . Facebook does not provide data on how many users use Facebook Couples, but some guidance may be available. For example, as they have analyzed in The Verge, it is known that the use of Facebook Couples is considerably lower than that of other flirting applications, and especially in comparison with Tinder, the most used and downloaded.
To reach this conclusion, data from Facebook’s own advertising campaigns has been compared, which has displayed banners on the social network indicating the number of single people who use Facebook Couples in certain parts of the world. For example, in New York they point out that right now there are 287,000 single people using Facebook Couples. Taking into account that the census of singles in the city is 4 million, the rate of use of Facebook Dating would be set at 7% .
Similar percentages can be extracted from the figures that Facebook shows in the ads it places in other cities. The curious thing is that, in addition, the data of single people is changing. In fact, last week, to continue with the example of New York, 285,000 singles were indicated using the application.
This means that the app is being used more and more, even if it is growing at a slow pace, compared to Tinder and other apps. This week, in addition, we have learned that Facebook is working to bring a possibility to the tool: virtual appointments by video call, something that Tinder already launched during the months of confinement last year.
Basically, the novelty would be to include a button so that you do not have to leave Facebook Couples and establish that more direct contact with the person you are meeting, possibly using Facebook Rooms technology. At the moment, it is only known that Facebook is carrying out tests, and it is unknown if or when the functionality will be officially launched.
What is known is that Facebook launched an app this week, in the testing phase, where you can have “speed dating” in just a few minutes , also via video call. It is called Sparked and, at the moment, it can only be used in the United States and on a waiting list.
