NEW YORK - Mark Zuckerberg’s dating reality may not come with Amazonian destructive power. The Facebook chief executive announced an add-on to the social network that will enable romantic connections. The news tanked the shares of Match as well as its owner, IAC/InterActiveCorp, on Tuesday. But doubts about Facebook’s true intentions could be a reason not to get together with Zuck’s service.

The move, unveiled at Facebook’s annual developer conference, is bold given the social network’s founder was in Washington just three weeks earlier testifying about how his company uses, and may in the past have misused, consumer information. By way of explaining the plan, Zuckerberg rather creepily noted there are “200 million people on Facebook that list themselves as single, so clearly there’s something to do here.”

Less altruistically, a successful matchmaking module could help solve one of Facebook’s business problems. People are spending less time on the site, and love interest could turn that around.

Just as Jeff Bezos’ Amazon strikes fear in any sector at the mere suggestion the e-commerce behemoth might muscle in, Facebook’s plan provoked a similar response. Match, the owner of Tinder and OK Cupid, shed nearly $3 billion of market value, while IAC lost over $2 billion.

Investors may, however, be moving too fast. Zuckerberg promised the dating service is being built with privacy in mind so that, for example, friends will not be able to see a person’s dating profile. But the real issue with Facebook is how it gobbles up members’ personal data and touts a range of characteristics to paying advertisers.

Zuckerberg said Facebook’s dating algorithms would be for long-term relationships, “not just hookups.” To persuade users to respond with “I do,” though, he has work to do proving his promiscuous data-sharing days are behind him.

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CONTEXT NEWS

- Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on May 1 the social network plans to launch a dating service.

- The feature would be for long-term relationships, “not just hookups,” he said during Facebook’s developer conference.

- Shares of Match, the owner of popular dating app Tinder, closed down more than 22 percent on May 1 following the news.

- IAC/InterActiveCorp, Match’s parent company, dropped about 18 percent.

- In an emailed statement Joey Levin, chief executive of IAC, said: “Come on in. The water’s warm. Their product could be great for U.S./Russia relationships.”

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(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

(Editing by Richard Beales and Ben Kellerman)

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