There were reports of Facebook testing a new feature that has you match with a bunch of people including the ones from your friend list. It’s impossible to not draw comparisons with Tinder and other dating apps with similar UIs.

But it’s only when you experience it first-hand is when you realise the creepy resemblance between the two. Earlier today that we got a notification on our Facebook mobile app (for Android) saying ‘Friend A, Friend B and 16 others may want to meet up with you this week.’

Upon clicking on that notification, the app takes you to this new feature, called ‘Meetups.’ It informs you that ‘every week’ you’ll be suggested new people to meet up with. With the objective of minimising ‘social pressure’ it also requests you to ‘answer honestly.’ That’s because answers will only be shared if both parties press ‘Yes.’

‘If everyone wants to meet up, we’ll connect you on Messenger.” The texting medium is of course Facebook’s own Messenger that lets you connect even with people who are not on your friend list.

To us, it suggested 18-20 friends on our maiden try. Two of these people had also said Yes at the time of writing this article. You are notified of that on the app, which then leads you to the Messenger chat window.

So yeah, it’s almost like Tinder. We’re not sure though what preferences Facebook is applying to filter your choices. Nor are we sure about the possibility of swiping on random profiles from outside of your friend list. 

But feels like Facebook might have hit the nail on the head with this one, especially in India. The country’s dating app market has experienced a dramatic surge in demand over the past 24 months and it will be interesting to see the number of people this feature is rolled out to. 

If this feature has already helped you to go on a date, let us know in the comments section below.