Facebook Is Now Trying To Be Tinder, Getting Friends To Date Each Other

After trying to copy Amazon, YouTube, Twitch, and Snapchat, Facebook is now eyeing the possibility of offering services similar to Tinder. Yes, the dating app. What’s more, it’s trying to pair friends with friends, which is not at all what Tinder does.

Jacob Dubé over at Motherboard was one of the first to notice this new feature when he received a notification from Facebook with the message, "[Name redacted] and 15 others may want to meet up with you this week." When he tapped on the link, Dubé was then directed to a page where he was shown photos of his friends.

On the page, Dubé had the option to tap yes on any of the friends whose photos were featured. The arrangement would be private unless the other party says yes, which seems to indicate that it is less of an invitation and more of a “Swipe right to Like” type of situation. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this is classic Tinder.

When contacted about the new feature, a Facebook spokesperson sent an email to the publication with an explanation. Apparently, its engineers are currently running a test to see if this sort of system is to its users’ liking.

“People often use Facebook to make plans with their friends," the email reads. "So, we're running a very small test in the Facebook app to make that easier. We look forward to hearing people's feedback."

As The Verge reports, this is not automatically an indication that Facebook is launching its own dating app with very similar features to that of Tinder. Then again, it does sound like exactly the kind of thing that the social media platform would do, especially given its recent trend of copying every single popular service in the market. Would it really be such a stretch for Facebook to copy Tinder?