Watch out, Tinder. Facebook Is Adding a Dating Feature to Meet Non-Friends

Facebook already knows everything about you, so finding you a soulmate is the logical next step.

On Tuesday, during the platform’s annual F8 Conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook will be entering the dating game by the end of the year with a new matchmaking feature to rival Tinder, Bumble, and all the rest.

According to TechCrunch, the new feature will allow users to opt in and create a dating profile on the site that will be visible only to nonfriends who also opted into the dating feature as well.

You’ll then get matched with potential mates based on preferences they select and via an internal algorithm. As Facebook explained in a statement, the “potential matches will be recommended based on dating preferences, things in common, and mutual friends. They’ll have the option to discover others with similar interests through their Groups or Events.”

Once users opt into the new feature, TechCrunch explained, they will browse through events and groups that match their own interests. Then they will “unlock” one for dating, which is where they’ll see the other people who have also opted in.

From there, users will browse through potential date’s profiles, which show off a few photos and basic information. If both people are interested, they will then be able to start a conversation in a special inbox that’s separate from both Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to keep all their information private.

Zuckerberg explained at the F8 conference that the product is meant to build “real, long-term relationships—not just for hookups,” which has prompted some to speculate that the platform will only let people who list themselves as single participate.

Seems like a win-win for everyone, right? Well, not so fast. As Forbes also explained, this may be yet another attempt from Facebook to mine even more intimate data from its users.

“Dating doesn’t just mean swipes,” Forbes contributor Paul Armstrong wrote. Instead, he explained that using a dating feature like Facebook’s also implies that you’re potentially in the market for new outfits for those dates, in need of restaurant recommendations, and other events to attend and pay for. “And that’s a nice bunch of data to use to serve ads to,” Armstrong added”

Regardless, the new feature is bound to be a hit with the social network’s more than 2.2 billion users worldwide. However, one place it likely isn’t a hit is with its competitors.

Immediately following the new dating feature announcement, shares of Match Group,the parent company of Match.com, OKCupid, and Tinder, fell as much as 19 percent, CNN reported. Additionally, Facebook could one day choose to ban competitors like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge from using Facebook as a third-party service, which could spell further doom for those companies.

While the dating feature seems like it could popular, it does beg one question: Couldn’t they have just brought back the “Poke” feature instead?

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