Mark Zuckerberg appears to be getting ready to ape another hot app.
The tech titan’s Facebook has recently started a beta test of a new “meet up” feature that employs some Tinder-like features.
The beta test, in Toronto and New Zealand, sent out notifications to Facebook users asking them if they would be interested in meeting up with a specific friend.
One eagle-eyed Motherboard writer in Toronto received a notification telling him that 15 of his friends might be interested in meeting up.
Following the link in the notification took him to a window that displayed an image of one of his friends and asked if he wanted to meet up with them. He had the option to choose from “Yes” and “No Thanks,” with a disclaimer underneath saying that his response would be confidential unless both selected the “Yes” option.
If both parties demonstrated interest, Facebook said, they would be paired in a Messenger window so that they could make plans.
That sounds a lot like dating apps Tinder and Bumble, the writer noted. Both are fast-growing dating apps.
In recent years, Facebook introduced Newsfeed after Twitter became popular and rolled out Stories and Filters, two Snapchat-like offerings.
Facebook insists the service is not about dating.
“People often use Facebook to make plans with their friends,” a Facebook spokesperson told Motherboard. “So, we’re running a very small test in the Facebook app to make that easier.”