After 10 years of offering a dating platform that only allows women to initiate discussion, the Bumble application has decided to offer men the possibility of taking the first step, by focusing on authenticity, after having wiped a loss of profits last year.
“We are seeing an increased need for authentic human connections. “I don’t anticipate that the number of online dating users will decrease, quite the contrary, but the bar is higher,” Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones told CNN, before publicly announcing the new features. Tuesday.
Since its launch in 2014, Bumble had stood out among dating apps by offering women greater control over their messaging while they were the only ones able to open the discussion with their potential matches, noted CNN.
But faced with the general exhaustion of many singles, who struggle to connect with others through dating sites where spontaneity is lacking, many of them are turning more and more towards meeting in person. .
It is in this vein that Bumble would have chosen to open the door to men to start the discussion, for women who wish to offer this option on their profile, the company announced on Tuesday, which will maintain its mission towards the fairer sex.
Women or non-binary users can choose to continue to initiate the conversation or prepare an opening question to indicate to their partner that they can contact them first.
Incidentally, Bumble has reportedly updated its “dating intentions” badges, to allow users to post what they’re looking for on the platform, from “life partner” to “fun, casual date.”
These changes come after a tough year for Bumble, which reportedly suffered losses of US$1.9 million last year, in addition to having seen its profits fall 86% since its IPO in 2021, according to CNN.
