Facebook Dating, the new online dating service from Meta, is already making waves. Despite the troubles, it is growing its user base incredibly fast. This week, Meta touted an equally incredible milestone for Facebook Dating. With 21.5 million daily active users (DAUs) from 52 countries, the platform is bigger than ever before. This long-standing, substantial engagement reflects its dominant position in the hyper-competitive dating app market. Mainstream dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and Grindr fit into this complex ecosystem.
The service is both more appealing and more useful because it operates under a free, widely-available model. In contrast to many of its competitors, Facebook Dating doesn’t make you pay for premium features in order to use basic functionalities. As noted in a recent analysis, “Unlike Hinge, you don’t have to pay to ‘unlock’ your most desirable matches or buy other premium features that supposedly bring you closer to finding ‘the one.’”
Though the platform is otherwise free, it does let users purchase extra “roses” for $4 a pop. Users are given one free rose each week, which can be sent to women they’re interested in as a way of standing out from the competition. This brilliant monetization strategy allows Meta to gather even more data on its users while offering a new, optional premium feature.
In the United States, Facebook Dating has taken a big bite out of the market, with 1.77 million users 18 to 29 years old hooked into the service. This age group is particularly important for dating apps, since younger daters have been at the forefront of much of the innovation in the online dating space. In comparison, Tinder tops the U.S. market with 7.3 million total active users of all ages. Hinge is a close third with 4.4 million, followed by Bumble with 3.6 million, and Grindr with 2.2 million active users.
Providing a space for its millions of users to find love and companionship directly supports Meta’s overall business model, which involves monetizing user data to make money. Mark Zuckerberg’s company has a long history of data collection practices, and these metrics serve as a way to demonstrate the platform’s viability and appeal.
This week, Meta finally revealed some user numbers for Facebook Dating. This is the first time the company has spoken publicly about how well or poorly the platform is doing since it launched. This level of transparency can serve to build confidence among both internal users and external stakeholders.
Yet despite its distinct traits, Facebook Dating is up against immense competition from alternative apps that have unveiled far more creative features. One example of this is Hinge’s introduction of its “Standouts” feature in December 2020, which gave users the ability to showcase their most attractive profiles. These innovations further fuel the dating app market’s speedy and competitive nature.
Despite the growing popularity of Facebook Dating, some skeptics question its ability to compete with established players like Tinder and Hinge effectively. The landscape is still crowded, and consumers have more choices than ever in the online dating space.
“How do you do, fellow kids” – Facebook
As Facebook Dating develops and improves, its free-to-use, easily accessible format could be one of its greatest assets. All users are delighted that they can access all the basic features without needing to buy anything. This transparency breeds a deep feeling of inclusivity throughout the app. Whether that will be sufficient to maintain their rapid growth over the long-term is still an open question.
