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Facebook is launching a dating feature

Posted at 1:46 PM, May 01, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-01 13:46:08-04

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Move over Match.com.

Facebook is launching a dating feature. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said to laughs at Facebook’s f8 developer conference Tuesday that the new tool is “not just for hookups” but to build “meaningful, long-term relationships.”

That is, if you want. The feature will be opt-in, meaning you have to choose to use it. Zuckerberg also stressed that the feature was built with privacy and security in mind from the start. The company has been under fire recently for possibly not doing this with some of its features over the years.

Zuckerberg also said the dating feature will not suggests users’ friends to date. This is already what other dating apps that rely on Facebook data do, such as Tinder.

Earlier, Zuckerberg kicked off his company’s annual developer conference acknowledging that 2018 has been an “intense year” just four months in.

Speaking in San Jose, California, at Facebook’s f8 gathering of tech folks, startups and others, Zuckerberg said to cheers that the company is re-opening app reviews, the process that gets new and updated apps on its services.

He also reiterated that Facebook is investing a lot in security and in strengthening its systems so they can’t be exploited to meddle with elections.

But unlike other recent public appearances, he did not start off with an apology for the company’s recent privacy scandal.