Bumble is changing one of the features that made the dating app famous.
The company has announced that anyone can now send the first message in a heterosexual match, ending its long-standing “women make the first move” approach.
When Bumble launched in 2014, it stood out by giving women control over who started conversations in heterosexual matches. The company said the approach was designed to create a more comfortable dating experience for women while encouraging better connections.
Under the new system, both men and women can start a conversation after matching. Bumble is also giving users more time to respond, increasing the previous 24-hour deadline to 72 hours before a match expires.
Bumble says the changes are based partly on feedback from its users. According to the company, 66 percent of women surveyed said they would prefer men to send the first message.
The company also says testing showed that opening messages became more evenly distributed between men and women, while more matches led to conversations. Bumble believes the longer response window could also help people who are too busy to respond within a single day.
Instead of focusing on who is allowed to send the first message, Bumble says it will now place more emphasis on the quality of conversations and the messages people send when starting a match.
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Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said the company’s original women-first approach was never intended to require only one way for people to connect. She said the latest changes are designed to give users more flexibility and reduce the pressure surrounding online dating.
