SpeedDate takes over three Facebook applications, Doesn’t ask users for permission
By Emily Price
If you’ve installed the applications “Have You Ever?,” “Would You Rather,” or “Romantic Gifts” on Facebook, then you’re now a member of SpeedDate..even though no one asked you to join. The three applications were replaced on Facebook this week with the Speed Date service, and took all their active users along with them.
The number of users signed up for the three service combined totals around 500,000 with a little over 350,000 using Have You Ever,? 150,000 using Would You Rather, and close to 30,000 using Romantic Gifts each month.
All three applications were developed by a company called HappyAppy. TechCrunch speculates that either HappyAppy was acquired by SpeedDate (they raised of 6 million in capital last month) or the two companies may share the same development team.
Users of all three applications were sent email notifications letting them know that their applications had been “improved” but none of the emails indicated that they had been improved with a completely different application, which also happened to be a dating site.
Messages on each of the applications pages read: ” Find a boyfriend or girlfriend right now! Meet crushes and chat with them live. SpeedDate is the fastest and most fun way to find someone to date on Facebook.”
The question arises “What if you don’t want to date someone on Facebook.” It’s exceptionally dishonest of the company to take users accounts and switch them over to a new service without asking. The three affected applications are not exactly dating services, in fact the Romantic Gifts application would exist under the assumption you had someone to be sending romantic gift to….you’re probably not on the market, and SpeedDate definitely shouldn’t have the right to put you ON the market without your consent.
Luckily I didn’t have any of the other three applications. Were any of you affected by the switch?
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September 15th, 2008
When will people wise up and realise Facebook is taking them for a ride. The 100 million who are on there are gonna look like fools in front of the other 5.9 billion who will laugh hard at them.
And just because you’re not ‘officially’ on Facebook (under your real name) doesn’t mean you still can’t get in under a fake name to look around. I think that 100 million is probably more like 60 million when you take all the doubled up accounts into account.
July 21st, 2009
Well since I’m not on facebook very often and I use the internet through my phone I didn’t notice the change until last night when my boyfriend was checking my e-mails and I got a message from speeddater. He flipped out and thought I signed up 4 a dating site, honestly they shouldn’t switch applications like that without permission, now my boyfriends mad at me. If my relationship is over because of this I’m going 2 look into suing them 4 wrong use of profiles and advertising my name and profile for there personal use