Facebook Can Now Tell Your Secret Crush That You're Into Them

If you've ever had a burning desire to tell your crush how you feel about them, it's your lucky day - Facebook is rolling out a feature to help you do just that.

The social media giant is launching a brand new feature called "Secret Crush" which will allow people to tell Facebook who they're into on their friends list.

However, that person will only find out if the other person pops them in too - then, just like on Tinder, both people will be notified.

Now, if you're sceptical, fair enough. Imagine popping someone's name into Secret Crush, say someone at work that you've been eyeing forever.

Imagine then waiting for weeks for them to put you in, too...only to realise nothing is happening, they don't feel the same, and now you have to run into them in the kitchen while you're making your morning coffee.

The good news is, if the attraction isn't mutual then you won't have to suffer the indignity of them finding out how you feel.

Secret Crush is a part of Facebook Dating, a new franchise unveiled last year which will allow people to find matches within their communities on Facebook, showing others who attending the same events, part of the same groups, or are friends with your friends

Facebook Dating has so far been available in Colombia, Thailand, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico and is now rolling out to 14 extra countries: Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana, and Suriname. Hopefully we will get it soon!

Announcing the news, Facebook said: "People have told us that they believe there is an opportunity to explore potential romantic relationships within their own extended circle of friends. When it is enabled, you can select up to nine of their Facebook friends that you want to 'express interest in."

If any of those people have opted into Facebook Dating, they will get notified saying that someone has a crush on them. It's all very fun and school-era whispers, but we'll see how it actually works in practice when it comes to the UK.

Marianne Eloise

Marianne writes about TV, film and internet culture for Nylon, VICE, The Guardian, Vulture, Time Out and more. She was previously a staff writer at Dazed.