Online Dating Stocks Plummet After Facebook Says It Will Have New Features To Create 'Real Long-Term Relationships'

Amid criticism of fueling social dissolution, Facebook, Inc. FB is intent to facilitate relationships.

Now, the platform that branded itself as a “friends” zone is ready to take the next step.

What Happened

CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday at the Facebook Developer Conference that the firm’s main platform would soon include dating features, allowing the company to take part in an exploding online dating scene.

"If we're focused on helping people build meaningful relationships this is perhaps the most meaningful of all,” Zuckerberg said.

Facebook will build out features to develop “long-term relationships, not just hookups.”

Why It’s Important

IAC/InterActiveCorp IAC and Match Group Inc MTCH were in freefall on news of competition. At time of publication, Match had fallen as much as 16.5 percent and IAC 11.5 percent, and both were continuing downward.

One analyst considers the sell-off unfounded, though.

"I can’t see Facebook supplanting Match any time soon – too big a moat," Benchmark analyst Dan Kurnos told Benzinga. "If you want a company that is great at getting people to like things, FB is for you. Aggregating all of that and matching people up based on common interests is not an overnight project, and requires a lot more than machine learning."

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