Facebook Set To Launch Dating Service: 10 Things To Know

Facebook Inc is planning a matchmaking service for users on its social network. With a dating service, the US-based technology major aims to boost its popularity among young users. Facebook had considered offering the matchmaking service for over a decade. "There are 200 million people on Facebook that list themselves as single, so clearly there's something to do here," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told software developers at the company's annual F8 conference, according to news agency Reuters. Facebook will launch a new feature on its app later this year that will allow users to create a dating profile and match with potential love interests, news agency ANI cited CEO Mr Zuckerberg as saying on Tuesday .

Here are 10 things to know about the upcoming Facebook matchmaking feature on the cards:

1. Mr Zuckerberg made the announcement on Tuesday while speaking at 'Facebook F8', an annual conference for developers, in San Jose, California.

2. A prototype displayed on screens at the F8 conference showed 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. Potential matches will be recommended based on dating preferences, things in common and mutual friends, Facebook said in a statement.

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3. The opt-in feature will match users specifically with people they aren't already friends with. Facebook users can build a dating profile - which will not be visible to friends.

4. Facebook shares rose 1.1 per cent to close at $173.86. The stock had opened at $172 on Nasdaq on Tuesday and touched $174.02 at the day's highest level.

5. Among online dating service providers, Match fell 22 per cent - its largest one-day drop ever - and IAC, which owns more than a fifth of Match, fell nearly 18 percent in its biggest daily loss in about 13 years. Spark Networks, owner of JDate and Christian Mingle, also closed 4 per cent lower.

6. Mr Zuckerberg said the company was building the dating service with an emphasis on privacy, a sensitive subject for people who use dating websites and for Facebook as it reels from a scandal over its handling of personal information.

7. Since the launch of the social network website in 2004, users have had the option to mention their relationship status on their profile on Facebook.

8. Launch of a dating service by Facebook can help to boost the engaging time of its users, leading to more competition for existing dating sites in the US, say analysts.

9. Facebook had said in January that at the end of 2017, the time spent by users had fallen by about 50 million hours a day, after changes designed to reduce passive video watching and stem the spread of sensationalism.

10. Facebook Inc chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's compensation rose 53.5 per cent to $8.9 million in 2017, a regulatory filing showed last month, largely due to higher costs related to the 33-year old billionaire's personal security. About 83 per cent of the compensation represented security-related expenses, while most of the rest were tied to Mr Zuckerberg's personal usage of private aircraft.