Back in 2004, Facebook started allowing users to broadcast whether they're single or in a relationship. The social giant is building on that feature to spice things up a bit.
The company has added a dating feature to its main mobile app, according to founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the 2018 Facebook's F8 developers conference keynote. This particular feature is transforming Facebook into a major competitor of Match Group, among others that are already thriving in the dating business.
"This is going to be for building real, long-term relationships - not just for hookups," said Zuckerberg. "There are 200 million people on Facebook that list themselves as single, so clearly there's something to do here."
Facebook realized that a dating service would be a natural fit for the social network that specializes in connecting people online.
But Facebook isn't making the dating feature the main part of Facebook, as it's optional and opt-in only.
"We have designed this with privacy and safety in mind from the beginning. Your friends aren’t going to see your profile, and you’re only going to be suggested to people who are not your friends."
The profiles of this Facebook dating feature is similar to mobile-focused dating apps on the market, which boasts full-page profile photos. However, the main difference is that Facebook’s dating feature is more community-focused, with integrations for the events and groups.
After setting up a profile, users can browse events and groups based on location and interests.
According to Facebook product chief Chris Cox, there is a feature called "unlocking" which allows users of Facebook's dating platform to make his or her profile visible to other attendees of events or members of groups. From there, Facebook provides a private messaging feature that works separate from Facebook's other messaging services, Messenger or WhatsApp.
Here, users' dating profile won't show up on their News Feed or visible to friends. It's only available for others who are also using the dating service, and aren't yet friends on Facebook.
As of the announcement, the dating platform is still under testing. A prototype was displayed on screens at the F8 conference, showing a heart shape at the top-right corner of the Facebook app. Pressing on it will take people to their dating profile if they have set one up.
This attempt marks the first time that Facebook is actively trying to help people form romantic relationships.
The dating service is being built with privacy in mind. But still, concerns about Facebook's handling of privacy have grown, especially since the dating service announcement came only a while after Facebook experienced troubles with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
But still , the announcement tumbles the shares of the industry leaders.
For Match Group, the news of having a behemoth with 2.2 billion active users as a competitor has plummeted its stock by more than 20 percent. Shares of IAC/InterActiveCorp, the majority owner of Match, dropped more than 17 percent. Sparks Networks, owner of JDate and ChristianMingle, fell 7.3 percent before recovering a bit later in the day.