Facebook’s New Speed-Dating Site Wants You To Swipe Less & Spark More

Facebook users might soon have a new way to connect with others through Sparked, the company’s new video speed-dating website. Social media sites like Facebook continue to evolve, offering services beyond just status updates. For example, Facebook announced it was working on smart glasses last year, including the potential for facial recognition.

This is not the first time Facebook has forayed into the online dating world. Facebook Dating launched in 2019 before then rolling out to European countries last October. Facebook Dating allows users to like another user’s profile to show interest. From there, they can choose to start a conversation. It also shows users what Facebook groups a potential match is in, thereby letting people connect through mutual interests. There’s also a Stories feature, where people can post clips of themselves, as well as a Virtual Dates video-chatting option.

Facebook’s Sparked will be free to use when it finally launches. Sparked avoids the use of public profiles, along with DMs and swiping to indicate interest in someone else. Instead, it is a video-based speed-dating service that appears to come with an emphasis on kindness. The sign-up process asks users to “be kind even when it’s not a match” while also encouraging Sparked as a safe space. It even asks users what makes them a “kind date.” Rather than a swipe, daters can indicate what they’re looking for, and Sparked will respond with relevant virtual events. According to The Verge, Sparked is still in beta testing status right now and was created by Facebook’s NPE — New Product Experimentation — team. That’s the same team that also recently helped launch the BARS rapping app.

How Sparked Speed-Dating Works

According to the limited details available, Sparked users will go on a series of four-minute dates via a webcam. If there is a connection, the pair can then extend the second video date to as long as ten minutes. If there’s definitely a spark, the matching pair will then be encouraged to share contact info, such as social media handles or an email address. That way, they can continue to get to know each other on their own time and outside of Sparked.

The switch from profiles to video-chatting is an interesting one. It allows people to meet face-to-face right from the beginning. Of course, this approach is more important right now than even before, due to in-person meetings still being so few and far between as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact on all sections of society. From the user perspective, Fakebook’s Sparked might prove to be a useful way to skip some of the more awkward steps involved with online dating, such as text chats that go nowhere or, worst still, not chatting at all.

Source: Sparked, The Verge

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