by Amanda Plachte

Although rumor has it that Facebook has seen a decline in user activity, the social network is doing just fine. In fact, according to Statistic Brain, the company has more than 1.3 billion monthly active users; it’s a pretty big sea and it is plentiful with fish.

Once upon a time, just like anything new and misunderstood, online dating had a stigma of being a risky and subpar way of meeting people. Now, 20 percent of adults age 25-34 have at least tried it, according to
Pew Research, and it is more accepted than ever. Recently, author Samantha Murphy Kelly shared in this Mashable article that Facebook is finally catching on. Now users have the option to leave their relationship status blank and the new “ask” feature allows people to inquire.

Here is how it works

When the “ask” button is clicked, the person inquiring is required to send a message related to the relationship status such as, “Hey, if you are single, would you like to go out sometime?” That seems simple enough, right?

Here is the dilemma

In order to use the “ask” feature, the users must already be friends. With that being said, would the person inquiring NOT already know if the other person is in a relationship? In the Mashable article, Murphy Kelly states that she wonders why Facebook did not do this sooner.

My question is, simply, “Why?”

Agreeing with the viewpoint and explanation found in this blog by Rich Santos, Ten Ways Guys Use Facebook for Their Dating Lives, I fail to see the purpose in this too-little-too-late Facebook feature. It is not difficult to learn the desired information; therefore, I definitely would not consider this an asset to the social network.

Although it might not be the most innovative tool for the modern profile stalker, it could, quite possibly, be a genius disguise for social media marketers to access your personal information.

Here is how

Once a user requests the status of another user’s relationship, it will remain private to the public, but the information is still released to Facebook administrators. BINGO!

How do you feel about the new “ask” feature? Let us know what you think. Don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Pinterest.

Image via Mashable.