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| Facebook is test-driving a dating service in Colombia |
Facebook said Friday a dating service it teased early this year is being rolled out in Colombia.
The social
media giant chose the Latin American country as its test lab because Colombians
are particularly avid fans of using social networks and websites to find
partners.
The new
feature, rolled out in Colombia this week, allows users to create a separate
"dating" profile not visible to their network of friends, with potential
matches recommended based on preferences and common interests.
The service
is programmed not to link up people who are already connected as family or
friends, and users of Facebook Dating will also be able to block people if they
wish.
A basic
chat service will be available, and the site will bar strangers from sending
photos, videos or links.
Some 21
million people log in to Facebook every day in Colombia, a country of 50
million people, according to the company.
"We
view this as an incredible opportunity to continue helping people build
relationships in meaningful ways on Facebook," said Facebook Dating
product manager Nathan Sharp.
Facebook's
chief Mark Zuckerberg in May announced plans for the new dating feature at the
world's leading online social network -- while vowing to make privacy
protection its top priority in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Zuckerberg
was emphatic that the focus would be on helping people find partners, not
flings.
"This
is going to be for building real, long-term relationships, not just
hookups," Zuckerberg said in presenting the new feature.
He said the
dating offer was built with privacy and safety in mind.
Facebook
faced intense global scrutiny over the mass harvesting of personal data by
Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy that worked for Donald
Trump's 2016 election campaign.
The company
has admitted up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked in the
scandal.
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