Social media giant Facebook is testing a new speed dating app called Sparked. The webpage for Sparked was live briefly, and has now been taken down. The app is developed by Facebook’s New Product Experimentation (NPE) team and requires a Facebook profile to create an account. The platform appears to be free to use and there will be no public profiles. The video speed-dating app was first spotted by The Verge, who says that the Sparked webpage, which has now been taken down, describes the app as “video dating with kind people.” The app, apart from not showing public profiles, also promises no swiping, no DMs, and it will be free to use. The app cycles people through speed video dates that last four minutes, and it says that if both people have a good time, the daters will be scheduled for a 10-minute second date. It is unclear how many video dates one person will go through at once, and users will be able to exchange their contact information and stay in touch via Instagram, iMessage, or email.
Folks at The Verge tried setting up a profile but were put on a waiting list. When signing up, users have to tell what makes them a “kind dater.” The app says that the responses by users are “reviewed by a human at Sparked” before people can go on speed dates. Users also have to choose whether they want to date men, women, or nonbinary people, and then are asked if they are open to dating trans people. The Verge even viewed a landing page for a dating event in Chicago that says 47 people have signed up to attend. It is unclear how people will connect to the event – if they will have to log into Sparked through the web, or if they’ll eventually be prompted to download an app. No app is currently live.
A Facebook spokesperson even confirmed the existence of the app to The Verge and called it an “early experiment.” The Facebook executive also told the website that its only a “small beta test” right now.
Sparked will be the second dating product from the social media giant. Facebook had launched Facebook Dating in 2019 in the US and it has rolled out in various countries since.
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