How to Use Facebook Dating (And Its Unique Features)

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: October 20, 2021

Originally created as an online space to meet new people, Facebook Dating extends the Facebook sphere into the realm of romance. If you’re already a Facebook user and have a good grasp on its controls, it’s easy to transition to the dating section of the platform. Even if you’re a pro at online dating, Facebook Dating will offer some new features and new matches you won’t find anywhere else. Available to users 18+, we’re going to outline how to get started on Facebook Dating as well as some of the best features you can use to your advantage.

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Setting Up A Profile

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Facebook Dating lives within the regular Facebook app, but you will need to set up a separate profile to use the romance function. Facebook Dating is only available on the mobile app, not through a laptop or desktop, so make sure you have the app downloaded onto your mobile device.^{[1]
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To begin setting up a profile, open up the Facebook app. Click on the hamburger menu in the top right hand of your screen. Click on the “Dating” section to begin setting up your profile.
- Facebook will guide you through the next few steps, but the only information carried over from your Facebook account will be your name and age. It will ask you to fill out your own gender and the genders you are interested in (this information will not show up on your profile). After that, Facebook will ask for your location and for a photo of yourself. Once you click confirm, you’ll have a profile!

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Extras To Include

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If you want to keep your profile simple, you don’t have to add any additional information. If you do want to spice things up on your profile, you can add a bit more information about yourself, like:
- Height
- Religion
- Job title
- Where you work
- If you have children
- Where you went to school
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You can include up to nine photos on your profile as well as answers to ice-breaker questions provided by Facebook. You can also include your Instagram posts in your profile for that extra flare.
- An example ice-breaker question might be: "What’s the best book you’ve ever read?"

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Choosing Who You Match With

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Facebook Dating says it will match you with people based on shared interests, preferences, and other things you do on Facebook, but you can always change these settings. You can also choose to match with people who are in the same Facebook Groups as you, based on locations, or even shared interests.^{[2]
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Worried about matching with your Facebook friends? Facebook Dating automatically turns off matching with your own Facebook friends. You can go into your settings if you are interested in matching with friends and change this default, but the existing friends option is turned off when you first create a dating profile. You can even choose to remove friends of friends if you don’t want to match with anyone you may know.

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Contacting Matches

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Facebook doesn’t have a swiping feature like Tinder or Bumble, instead, you choose to interact with the profiles of people you are interested in. Some ways to engage with a profile:
- Comment on one of their pictures
- Respond directly to one of their icebreaker questions
- Like their profile
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Any of these actions will enable you to start a conversation with the person you’re interested in. If someone you are not interested in likes your profile or any of your pictures, Facebook will allow you to click a “Not Interested,” button so that person will not be able to contact you.
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This goes both ways, if someone you like clicks the “Not Interested” button, you won’t be able to message them. If both of you are interested, then you will be able to text back and forth in a secure Facebook Messenger Dating inbox.
- You can’t send links, photos, or methods of payments in these messages for safety reasons, but you can talk and get to know one another.

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Other Unique Features

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Secret Crush. This Facebook Dating feature allows you to indicate up to nine Facebook friends or Instagram friends you want to express interest in. The only way the other person will know that you are interested in them is if they “Secret Crush” you too. Both people need to have opted into Facebook Dating for this feature to work.
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Safety. Meeting up with people you don’t know is inherently risky, but Facebook Dating has a built-in safety feature that allows you to let loved ones know what you’re doing. Facebook will allow you to open Messenger from Dating to tell a friend or family member the name of the person you’re meeting up with, the time, and the place. Fifteen minutes before your date happens, that person will receive a notification reminder and access to your live location, but they will only be able to see your location for a limited amount of time, compared to something like Apple’s Find My Friend feature.^{[3]
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Instagram Integration. Since Facebook owns Instagram, Facebook Dating allows you to embed your own Instagram posts into your profile. This is a great feature for showing off who you are and you’ll be able to see potential matches' Instagram photos too. You can also add Instagram followers to your Secret Crush list.
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No Ads & Free. As of right now, Facebook Dating is completely free and doesn’t show you any ads. There is one catch: Facebook is getting more personal data on you to set you up with better matches, but the company still retains that data.