Headline Roundup • June 2nd, 2024
Are Dating Apps on the Decline?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
After the dating app Bumble botched an ad campaign last month, media sources across the spectrum have published various features on the recent decline in the popularity of dating apps.
Female Burnout: An analysis from the Financial Times (Center bias) highlighted how female users are suffering from “burnout” on platforms like Tinder and Bumble. It highlighted how, recently, fewer women are using the apps than men, skewing the app’s overall experience, and that companies are positioning themselves on how to better attract female users.
Faux Activism: Sarah Manavis, writing for The New Statesman (Left bias), described Bumble’s ad campaign as “tone-deaf” and noted that since its successful IPO in 2021, Bumble’s share price has fallen by 85%. Manavis emphasized Bumble’s longstanding female-first approach and argued this recent “episode reveals a fundamental truth about tech companies that sell themselves as a kind of social good: the apps that claim to exist to better our lives aren’t altruistic.”
Leftist App: Abigail Anthony of National Review (Right bias) argued Bumble’s recent feature addition that allows men to message women first shows that the “outdated heterosexual dating norms” Bumble tried to challenge remain desirable. Anthony argued that Bumble “alienated moderates a long time ago” and criticized it for only allowing users to select from a pool of mostly progressive political views when making their profiles.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Illustration by Gary Waters / Ikon Images
In the 2010s, brands increasingly sold the public a social message. You couldn’t just sell soap – you had to sell personal hygiene products that encouraged society to accept people of all sizes. You couldn’t just sell soda – you had to sell soda that promoted peace between socially opposing groups. Even if the most cynical and toxic brands painted themselves as having a warm, human sensibility and strong political values. For some, such marketing was visibly self-serving and insincere. Others believed that companies genuinely cared about improving the world, and trusted...
FT montage/Getty Images
Dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble are exploring extra features and new branding to attract more Generation Z women in response to warnings that female users are suffering “burnout” on matchmaking platforms.
Match Group, which has more than 40 dating brands including Tinder and Hinge, and Bumble, which also owns Badoo and Fruitz, have both said they plan to boost content moderation and introduce other tools to improve women’s experiences.
Surveys have consistently shown a gender disparity among dating app users, while some women have reported concerns about receiving...
Mike Blake/Illustration/Reuters
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...
AllSides Picks
Blog
Euthanasia Malpractice, Migrant ‘Abuses’ and a Racism Ruling: Latest News You Likely Missed
Malayna J. Bizier
June 6th, 2026
Red Blue Translator
Change
Red Blue Translator
