Is Facebook Dating Mining For More User Data Or Making Love Matches?

While singles may have high hopes at finding love with the Facebook Dating app, there are a few things that they may want to consider while they are searching for their soulmate with the app.

Facebook (FB) rolled out the dating app in the U.S. on Sept. 5, matching users to those that have common interests, events, groups, and preferences. While the app won’t suggest a current friend as a match, it does connect individuals that may be a good match based on their likes and dislikes.

Just like most dating apps, Facebook dating uses algorithms to make matches, giving users the option to like their match or pass on it. The opt-in service also allows potential daters to have a secret crush list that can help pair them up with the partner they have had an eye on for a while.

However, Facebook Dating has a few features that may make some users take a step back and evaluate whether or not they want to use the app after all. Since the app links to Instagram, it allows Facebook to collect even more data about user activity through the dating app, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

With Facebook coming under fire in the past for its use of private data, Facebook Dating seems to capitalize on the use of this data to make matches outside an individual’s sphere of friends, giving the social media platform more valuable insight into their users.

According to the news outlet, Facebook’s user base is shrinking in the U.S. as its younger users move to other popular social media sites. To help with this situation, Facebook has integrated the dating app with Instagram to take advantage of where users are still growing, allowing for the cross-use of posts and a new opportunity for Facebook to gather data.

However, diving into the dating market may be a win for Facebook as the billion-dollar industry is mostly headed by the Match Group, which owns Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge, and Plenty of Fish apps, the news outlet said. The apps themselves have not been updated since the early 2000s, giving Facebook a new edge with users that are tired of the traditional dating app process.

Facebook Dating does require its users to be 18-years-old and does require and opt-in permission and a separate profile. It also has some security features that allow users to block matches and notify friends and family of an upcoming date.

Shares of Facebook stock were down 0.53 percent as of 3:18 p.m. ET on Monday.