If you have been unlucky in finding a significant other during this shift in normal human interactions due to the Covid19 pandemic, Facebook is working on a solution to your dead love life.
Remember Facebook Dating? Well, the NPE team, Facebook’s experimental arm have a new dating app.
The company has confirmed it is currently testing a new dating app they have dubbed “Facebook Sparked” which has been noted to be a bit different from the likes of Tinder.
Sparked is going to be a video speed-dating app that is described on the sign-up page as “video dating with kind people”.
A user must have a Facebook account first before signing up for a profile on this platform. During the sign-up process, you will be required to state what aspects make you a kind person all in tandem with their kindness theme.
A human moderator will be looking at your responses on this particular part, according to the Sparked app, to gauge your kindness before you are allowed on speed dates.
Unlike Tinder, Hinge, and other popular dating apps where one has to swipe left or right for their matches, pay for some premium services and maintain a conversation in the DM, Sparked avoids all that and goes directly to the video.
Additionally, there will be no public profiles on the app, and users are asked to state their dating preferences across men, women, non-binary and trans people.
Since you cannot directly message people on the app, Sparked will offer you a cycle of short 4-minute speed video dates and if you eventually create a “spark” with someone, you earn yourself a second 10-minute date.
It is at this point where both users can exchange personal contacts and move the conversation off the application.
Back in May 2019, Facebook introduced us first to their attempt at the world of online dating by launching Facebook dating, a service that works from within the Facebook app.
This one operates the same way as other dating platforms, where you get to view other users’ profiles beforehand and send a like to initiate a potential match.
With the Covid19 pandemic pushing many countries across the world to enforce measures that regulate and limit close contact between people, dating apps like Tinder have also incorporated video chats on their platforms.
This is all in a bid to help people stuck at home feel like they have experienced something that can be likened to in-person dates.
Facebook Sparked is however being launched as a separate platform to the dating service already on the app and it would be interesting to see if it catches up and sets a new precedence in the world of online dating.
Would you try this app?