Facebook’s ‘Tinder-like’ new feature tries to match you up with your friends

It's currently unclear if it was designed specifically with dating in mind

Facebook has built a new feature that’s drawing comparisons with dating apps, such as Tinder and Bumble.

The social network has started asking users if they’d like to meet up with certain friends.

If both of you respond positively, you’ll match and Facebook will encourage you to strike up a conversation on Messenger.

If either of you selects the No Thanks option, it will go no further.

The feature was spotted by Motherboard’s Jacob Dubé, who said it was also available to some of his friends in Canada, but none of his colleagues.

It isn’t clear what the feature is actually called – or, indeed, if it was designed specifically with dating in mind – but Facebook has confirmed that it’s being tested on iOS and Android in Toronto and New Zealand.

“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. We look forward to hearing people's feedback.”

According to Mr Dubé, the feature differed from Tinder by trying to match people who are already Facebook friends, but “didn't just show me potential love interests... [but] also displayed some of my friends”.

Facebook has been busy ripping features from other popular apps over recent months, with Snapchat being targeted particularly heavily.

While the match-up feature looks like a light-hearted bit of fun – though it could certainly prove quite annoying – it comes with some potential dangers.

If, for instance, you choose to “meet up” with someone but don’t actually end up matching with them, it isn’t difficult to work out what option they chose.