Several commenters have stated that singles want to keep their dating profile separate from their Facebook profile. While there will always be a demand for separate dating sites (free and paid), I simply cannot see singles wanting to go to a site with a million people scattered around the world that they (might) be able to communicate with vs. 200 million people all on the same platform. I’m not saying this shift is going to happen overnight, only that it’s in the process of happening, right now.
We all saw the MatchMatrix Facebook app at iDate. It’s a dating site bolted on Facebook, and for the most part, it works.
The issue is that singles are not yet comfortable with Facebook as a dating platform. This may change over time. Nobody knows if it will work, but there are several companies betting that there will be a large enough singles network on Facebook to be comfortably supported by advertising.
Still not convinced? Inside Facebook has a good article about the new Facebook privacy settings.
In our detailed guide to managing your privacy on Facebook, you can see how the controls currently operate today. In general, you can best control the content people see by utilizing Friend Lists and the “customize†feature in the privacy console, which users access by choosing “privacy settings†in the upper right corner of the homepage.
For example, if you created a Friend List comprised of work colleagues, you could prevent that entire group from seeing your Status Messages. By clicking on “customize†under the status messages category on the privacy settings page, you can give all your friends access to your status messages, except certain friends or a friend list you choose.
Facebook is creating privacy controls to enable members to share and hide their photos, activity stream and other content on a selective basis. These are the functionalities I’ve been alluding to when talking about Facebook as a dating site. With the new privacy features it won’t be long before I will have a semi-anonymous profile on Facebook where can say I’m single, align myself with various interests, brands and proclivities and be able to search for others as well as communicate with them.
There are many impediments to a full blown dating site within Facebook, but we’re just about there, functionality-wise. Now it’s all about educating singles, which is no easy task given the amount of money dating sites spend to reach new members. And lets not forget the stigma associated with online dating.
Agree or disagree, dating is getting more social.
