When Facebook Dating officially rolled out over a month ago, everyone let out a collective groan. This wasn’t just another dating app; it was a dating app powered by the social media behemoth we all love to hate (but still use just to keep our grandmas and great aunts happy). And if you’re anything like me, dating apps in general are a horrible experience. So, with that in mind, I decided to give Facebook Dating a whirl.
The Setup Process
As I expected, setting up my dating account was pretty easy. Facebook asks you for the basics, such as your height, gender identity and who you’re interested in. It pulls a little bit of information from what you’ve already entered into your regular Facebook account, such as your age and bio. Normally, I’d spruce up my bio for dating apps, but because I didn’t want to get too invested, I left it without changing it: “I’m a writer who can’t put her thoughts into words.” So, definitely not a dating app kind of bio, but I was lazy and wasn’t expecting much.
One of the neat things about Facebook Dating was getting to answer random questions and have them appear on my profile. It’s not an original idea—Hinge does this as well, but I always felt it adds more depth to dating apps. In addition to questions, you could obviously add a multitude of photos, and even connect your Instagram feed to your account. As far as features go, it’s nothing groundbreaking. It’s all been done before at this point.
Aside from filling out information to your own profile, Facebook also asks you for your dating preferences. This includes height, religion and if they have children or not. Supposedly, they’ll try and show you people who fit those preferences, but not everyone will. For the record, I honestly don’t think the preferences did anything at all. The men it kept showing me definitely conflicted with a lot of my preferences.
The Next Step: Liking
Instead of swiping and hoping for a match, similar to the more popular dating apps out there, Facebook dating has you like someone, immediately letting them know that you’ve liked them. For those of us who prefer anonymity when it comes to liking (or swiping) someone, it can be pretty intimidating. I legitimately refused to like anyone for a few days until I got over it.
Once I started sifting through people more, I realized the Facebook Dating pool was horribly underwhelming. In fact, I hadn’t doled out a single like after an entire week of being on there. Whenever I sorted through the people who liked me, it was the same disappointing story.
To give you an idea, just imagine the type of people who actually love using Facebook every day, and then combine that with the image of every redneck, small town in Missouri where confederate flags are swaying in front yards. Not the prettiest picture by any means, and for those of us who use Tinder, Facebook Dating was like an entirely different dating pool of men that I didn’t want to dip into.
Secret Facebook Crushes
The one unique feature about Facebook Dating is getting to designate secret crushes from your Facebook friends list. This operates much differently from the actual liking process. When you choose a friend as a crush, they don’t get to see who did it, unless they also picked you as their crush.
None of my actual crushes are on my Facebook friends list, but I did have one hot guy that I was low-key into enough to use for Facebook Dating purposes.
I was a little curious to see what would happen, but I also wasn’t sure if I was ready to deal with the awkward ramifications of us mutually crushing on each other. Unfortunately, after I selected him as one of my secret crushes, nothing happened. So, either he doesn’t use Facebook Dating, or he doesn’t have me listed as a crush. Here’s to hoping it’s the former.
Facebook Stalkers
The worst part about Facebook Dating, and the reason why I deleted my dating profile not soon after, was because of the influx of stalkers. I kept getting friend requests on my Facebook account from creepy guys. I also received a bunch of messages from dudes I’d literally never seen before. It was getting to be too unsettling for me.
It probably doesn’t help that I have a fairly uncommon first name, but the fact that I accrued so many stalkers so quickly was proof that Facebook and dating should never mix. It’s one thing to put your Snapchat and Instagram handles in your dating bios (guilty as charged), but when you don’t, you’re straight up not inviting or providing anyone with your social media profiles. So, when you get actively stalked on Facebook by weirdos anyways, it’s not okay.
For the record, I only put my social media handles on Tinder and Bumble. Never in a million years would I have done that on Facebook Dating, just because I know Facebook can be a cesspool for creepers. And yet, I got stalked anyways.
When I officially concluded my Facebook Dating experience, I was glad to be done with it. Trust me, I’ve tried almost every popular dating app out there, and Facebook definitely takes the cake for being the worst. It wasn’t just because the dating pool was small and creepy, but also because it brings dating into the realm of Facebook, where stalking is a constant occurrence already. I’m not here to get stalked on the daily.
Now that I’ve tried Facebook Dating, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to. Seriously, don’t do it. Go back to Tinder or Bumble, or maybe just slide that cutie your number next time you see them in person. Just make sure you stay away from dating on Facebook. It’s not a great combo.