Meta shuts down Facebook dating video service Sparked

Meta put an end to its speed video dating service, Sparked, an experiment that didn’t last long.

In 2019, Facebook decided to try to enter the online dating market. The American giant then decided to expand its services in 2021 with a new video speed dating service called Sparked. Unfortunately, it seems that this experience was not definitive as Meta just announced that the service will be shutting down soon.

Meta shuts down video speed dating service Sparked

Admittedly, Sparked was never a product that was fully adopted by Facebook, it was more of a product of the new product experimentation department. In other words, more of an experiment than anything else. So it was just about testing something new, not a rush to launch a product that would absolutely have to be used.

An experiment that didn’t last long

For those who are hearing about Sparked for the first time, know that this is a service through which the Menlo Park firm organizes events in certain cities with participants who can participate in speed dating virtually, therefore in video and remotely. Considering the pandemic has swept the planet and face-to-face meetings are still very risky, the idea seemed like a good one.

That being said, it looks like the platform never got off the ground, leading to the closure of this little experiment today. An email sent to users states: “We started building Sparked at the end of 2020 to help people find love through an experience based on kindness. Since then, thanks to regular feedback from all of you, we’ve made a lot of improvements, learned a lot, and built connections between people. Like many good ideas, some of them get implemented, while others, like Sparked, have to die.”