Bumble-ing Idiots

Bumble launched in 2014 as a “feminist dating app” that was “designed to challenge outdated heterosexual dating norms.” It distinguished itself on the market and (theoretically) empowered women by requiring them to send the first message, which supposedly helped prevent harassment, predatory messages, and unsolicited nude photos from men.

Ten years later, Bumble has rebranded. When asked by the company, nearly half of 6,138 female users aged 23–35 told Bumble that they prefer additional ways to start a conversation, so it introduced the “Opening Moves” feature, which allows women to pick prompts for their matches to answer. The media celebrated this development as alleviating a burden on women, despite the fact that practically every other dating platform has it: “This new feature on Bumble takes the pressure off women to make the first move,” reads an article complimenting the app that was founded on women making the first move. Apparently, sending “heyyy” with a smiley emoji is just too much of an ordeal.