NY –
Ten years after creating a new model for dating apps with its “women make the first move” feature, Bumble is opening the door for men to start conversations on its platform.
Bumble is launching a new feature called “opening moves” that will allow female users to set a message that male suitors can follow. Reply to start a conversation. The feature reverses a long-standing requirement on the app that women send the first message to their partners, which Bumble said gave women more power over their love lives.
The new feature is part of a broader relaunch of the app announced Tuesday by new CEO Lidiane Jones, who took over the top job from founder Whitney Wolfe Herd earlier this year. The move comes as dating apps in general are working to stay relevant, as some singles have grown tired of online dating and are looking for more in-person connections.
Jones sees Bumble’s redesign as a way to help the platform navigate that moment.
“We’re seeing a greater need for authentic human connections,” Jones told CNN in an interview before the launch. “I don’t anticipate that the number of people using online dating will decrease, quite the opposite, but there is a higher bar… So we are taking it as a big call to action to focus on our mission. “
The new “opening moves” feature is one of the ways Jones says Bumble is evolving while staying true to its original mission of empowering women. Users will now have the option to continue initiating conversations with their partners or establish an opening move (for example, a question about a potential partner’s dream dinner guest) that would indicate that they want their partner to communicate first. (For non-binary users or those seeking same-sex matches, either person can set and respond to an opening move.)
Bumble’s relaunch also includes updated “dating intentions” badges that allow users to indicate on their profiles whether they are looking for, for example, a “life partner” or just “fun, casual dating.” Bumble also now requires users to include more photos in their bios. And the app will highlight common interests at the top of potential matches’ profiles in an effort to connect people with more compatible partners.
The changes could be key to Bumble, which also owns dating apps Badoo and Fruitz, returning to profitability after posting a net loss of $1.9 million last year. The company’s stock price has also plunged 86 percent since its initial public offering in February 2021.
Wall Street analysts expect Bumble to post a profit of $12 million when it reports earnings for the first three months of this year on May 8, down from a loss of $2.3 million during the prior-year quarter. . The number of the company’s paid users is also expected to increase 14 percent to more than 3.9 million.
“We are very fortunate to have very healthy finances to be able to invest in the growth of the company and still deliver returns to our shareholders,” Jones said. “We are at a big inflection point, we have enough scale and we also have a lot of room to grow going forward, where we can balance both objectives together.”