Facebook ready to take on Tinder with new dating app feature
Mark Zuckerberg wants Facebook to help people find love.
Mark Zuckerberg speaking at F8.
Facebook wants to help people change their relationship status.
Mark Zuckerberg announced a new feature for the social network on Tuesday focused on dating, taking a jab at dating apps like Tinder and Bumble.
"Today, we are announcing a new set of features, coming soon, around dating," Zuckerberg said during F8. "This is going to be for building real, long-term relationships, not just hook-ups."
The feature will be optional for users, and people will need to opt-in to have their dating profiles be public.
The mostly-annual conference began as a space for Facebook to announce major initiatives, such as technology to connect user's accounts with sites around the web, as well as revamped designs for user's profile pages. Recently, it's used the event to discuss ways it's allowing app developers to tie into its services, like games for its Messenger service, augmented reality features for its Facebook app, and new artificial intelligence programs.
Zuckerberg has also increasingly used the event to discuss Facebook's role in the world as one of the internet's most powerful companies.
The Facebook CEO revealed the new dating features and noted that it is built with "privacy and safety in mind from the beginning."
People will not be able to find their Facebook friends as potential dating partners, and will only be matched with others that they're not already friends with, Zuckerberg said.
The new dating feature, which is available on Facebook's app, is posed as a direct competitor against Tinder, a popular dating app that uses Facebook profiles to set up accounts. Match Group, the parent company of Tinder and several other dating sites, saw its stock drop nearly 19 percent after Facebook announced the feature.
"We want Facebook to be somewhere where you can start meaningful relationships, so we're excited to start rolling this out soon," Zuckerberg said.
Update, 11:05 a.m. PT: Adds news on Match Group stock.
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