Facebook joins Grindr and Tinder with its own dating app

The largest social media company in the world is now poised to become the world’s largest hookup dating app.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed on Tuesday, at the F8 developer conference keynote in San Jose, that the social networking giant is launching its very own dating app, adding the dating component to its main mobile app. Zuckerberg spoke about the new layer that’s coming 14 years after the network launched.

“There are 200 million people on Facebook who list themselves as single,” he told the crowd. “So clearly there’s something to do here… And if we are committed to building meaningful relationships, then this is perhaps the most meaningful of all.”

The CEO said countless couples have met on Facebook who had thanked him over the years.

He said: “These are some of the moments that I’m really proud of what we’re doing. I know that we’re making a positive difference in people’s lives.”

The app, an opt-in feature, would match single users with strangers, and not Facebook friends. No shenanigans, though. “This is going to be for building real, long-term relationships — not just for hookups,” Zuckerberg said, tongue in cheek.

The new app, which should be rolled out “soon,” will take into account privacy issues. “We have designed this with privacy and safety in mind from the beginning,” he assured.

Chris Cox, Facebook’s chief product officer, presented a dummy user profile. He explained the dating profile would be separate from users’ everyday profiles, and that personal information would only be visible to other users on the app.

Though some speculated that the service will only be available to people who list themselves as single, there is no indication that one’s listed status will affect usability of the soon-to-launch feature.

The move puts Match Group, the company that owns and operates Tinder and OkCupid, into direct competition. Match Group saw shares tumble after the announcement. It suffered a 22 percent drop on Tuesday – the lowest single-day drop in their history, according to Bloomberg.

CEO Mandy Ginsberg said that Match is “surprised at the timing given the amount of personal and sensitive data that comes with this territory.” However, Ginsberg welcomed the challenge, saying that the company was “flattered that Facebook is coming into our space” and “Facebook’s entry will only be invigorating to all of us.”

A spokesperson for rival app Bumble said in a statement: “Perhaps Bumble and Facebook can join forces to make the connecting space even more safe and empowering.”

And while apps like Grindr and Scruff offer something a little different for gay users, we imagine they’ll be following this news closely.

There’s no release date as of yet, but Cox said a testing phase will be underway sometime this year.

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