Oh no, Facebook’s official dating app is now live

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Facebook took a step closer to becoming the hookup site of record by launching Facebook Dating today for its US users. And don’t think you Instagrammers are missing out, cause you can totally link your Insta to Facebook Dating for all the linking up you can handle.

Facebook says Dating is “safe, inclusive and opt-in” but does anyone believe them?

Facebook Dating is officially live and everything is terrible

Image: Facebook

If you really want to throw yourself into the dating pool at Facebook, you can opt-in starting today. You’ll need to be over 18, and have the latest version of the Facebook app. That’ll create a new profile for you, that Facebook says is separate from your main profile.

Facebook Dating will suggest you to other users who opted-in. Plus, everyone was using Facebook DMs to hook up so why not make it official? Facebook official, that is.

Here are some of the terrible ideas contained in Facebook Dating, ranked by terribleness:

• Secret Crush: Really? Are we back in grade school? Anyway, this lets you match up with people you already know on Facebook or Instagram. Yeah, it’s macking on your friends, done to the n-th degree. You can select up to nine of your Facebook friends or Instagram followers, and then you summon a cupid to do the business of pairing, or something like that. If your crushes aren’t on Facebook Dating or don’t put you on their own list, nobody will know that you’re pining for them – except Facebook of course, and whoever breaches their database next time…
• Stories: You’ll be able to use Stories to yanno, put all the stuff you usually put into your dating bio but now in video form. Yay
• Opt into Events and Groups: Hopefully, this actually works as planned with people with similar interests and not just devolves into a huge wife-swapping party.
• Feel safe by sharing details of your date: Okay, this one isn’t terrible. I don’t mean Instagramming your food while on the date, it’s a way to share the details of the date and/or live location with a trusted friend via Messenger. That could be the safety net you need if the date goes south.

Anyway, if you want to dip your toes into the Facebook Dating pool, it’s pretty easy. One tap to opt-in will bring up suggested photos and information from your main Facebook profile, making it easier than Tinder to setup.

What do you think? Is this something you’d use? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.