Facebook is beta testing a Tinder-like feature for friends
What's the story
Facebook wants you to meet your friends more often, for which it's now beta testing a new feature in Messenger. The feature asks people, who are already friends with each other if they'd like to connect. A Motherboard reporter discovered this when he received a notification that read, "[Name redacted] and 15 others may want to meet up with you this week." Here's more.
Connect
What's it all about?
When the reporter opened the link, he was directed to a page that had photos of his Facebook friends along with a question, "Want to meet up with [name redacted] this week?" The feature informed that the response given would be kept private unless both sides say "Yes" to the question. If either of them clicks "No Thanks," it will not proceed further.
Beta
It's a very small test
Upon query, a Facebook spokesperson said, "People often use Facebook to make plans with their friends…So, we're running a very small test in the Facebook app to make that easier. We look forward to hearing people's feedback." The social media giant has currently made the beta test limited to a small number of its iOS and Android app users in Toronto and New Zealand.
Tinder-ish
A Facebook influenced date
Although this feature shows people with whom the user is already friends with on Facebook, two things make this an interesting proposition. First, both sides have to agree in order to be connected just like Tinder's both "swipe right" policy. Second, we do have a lot of people there on our list whom we barely know, so it's basically a date if both agree.