Facebook’s announcement of a new dating feature, Secret Crush, on its updated app didn’t go down well on social media, where it was mocked and slammed as another bad idea for user privacy.

The new Secret Crush function allows people to choose friends they are romantically interested in, and the object of their attraction will only be notified if they return the feeling.

The new feature is available in countries where Facebook already rolled out its dating service, including Argentina, Canada, Thailand and Mexico, as well as in 14 new countries including Brazil, Singapore and Malaysia.

The updated app is meant to make it easier for users to engage more in order to boost overall engagement, Facebook said.

Other great new @facebook features include:• Voting from 1-10 in how attractive your friends are• Sorting friends by breast size (either bra size or volume)• Automatic parental notification every time the @facebook app overhears you masturbating — April King (@CubeApril) April 30, 2019 Facebook users:Facebook: hey remember when randos would message you or send friend requests on FB treating like it was a dating site and how annoying it was? let's do that, but officially — I'm a bird now ☕ (@95percentcoffee) April 30, 2019 Has anyone else been using FB as little as possible on the past year? Every new 'engagement' feature they add (like Stories) gives me a prompt to delete groups I've liked, and to limit friends to those I know IRL. I think the FB product and UX may be flailing and failing. — Chris Howell (@ChrisHowellUCLA) April 30, 2019

News of the new dating feature was met with mockery and pointed remarks on social media, given Facebook’s history of handling users’ data. Some Twitter users remarked that the social network could even end up like Ashley Madison, the dating website which suffered a huge user data breach, sparking a deluge of ruined relationships and class action lawsuits.

"Facebook says it won’t use data from Dating or Secret Crush to make content or advertising decisions" pic.twitter.com/mxIMqTIbxD — David Ottosen (@dottosen) April 30, 2019 I see absolutely nothing that could go wrong with this. — JC (@conductress) April 30, 2019 It's like sociopaths are making the creative decisions — Janis Sexton (@Ez4u2say_Janis) April 30, 2019

Many felt it was just a bad idea, pointing out that people don’t necessarily want others contacting them via private message looking for romance.

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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg inspired a similar reaction when he introduced Facebook’s privacy overhaul strategy at the F8 developer conference in San Jose, California, on Tuesday. Many feel that Facebook has let users down too many times and don’t trust it to prioritise user privacy over profits.



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