'Secret Crush' Feature Unveiled As Facebook Expands Dating Service

(KPIX 5) -- Amid a slew of changes by Facebook announced at its annual developer conference this week, was word of how the social networking giant is expanding its rollout of a dating tool in the Facebook mobile app which includes a "Secret Crush" feature.

While Facebook Dating is not yet available in the U.S. until the end of the year, it has launched versions in 19 countries including Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

Facebook says the "Secret Crush" feature lets users list up to nine of their Facebook friends they secretly have a crush on. If those crushes are also on Facebook Dating, they would get a notification that someone likes them. If a user with a Secret Crush happens to reciprocate, each will get a notification.

Users can list Secret Crushes even if they are not on the dating app, which is expected to push others into the Facebook Dating service out of curiosity.

Facebook Dating profiles are separate from regular Facebook profiles and initially only list first names, ages, and GPS-verified locations. User can add additional information like they would on other dating apps.

Currently, there are no ads or paid features on Facebook dating, but the social network is expected to try and tap into the online dating market which is estimated to be worth nearly $3 billion a year in 2018, and forecast to grow to $3.2 billion by 2020.

Facebook this week launched a major redesign of its app and website built around letting people connect with groups that share their interests — an attempt to shift its focus away from the untrammeled public sharing that has helped spread hate speech, extremism, misinformation and livestreamed video of massacres.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.