“IIn the end, it was the data that killed me,” Penny* says of her decision to quit dating app Bumble. When she opens the app, she may receive 100 likes, 25% of which may be of interest to her. She looks at her partner’s profile and writes a personalized message. Several people will respond, and one of them might even lead to a date.
“Going on one date is a lot of effort,” she says. “I’m tired.”
Bumble, which was billed as the feminist Tinder when it launched in 2014, announced this week that it would take steps to ease the administrative burden for its female users. After finding that 70% of its female users said they were experiencing burnout, the company offered the option of asking potential dates short pre-written questions rather than carefully crafted messages.
While not eliminating the requirement that women act first, female users can use the site’s Opening Moves feature to ask template questions such as “What book or movie changed the way you think?” You can now send.
“We’ve always believed that if we make dating better for women, we make it better for everyone,” said Bumble’s new CEO Lydiaan Jones. “As we hear from our community, many share fatigue with the current online dating experience, including making the first move.”
Empowerment “doesn’t just mean control, it also means agency,” she added, which is why Bumble is giving women “more choice in how they act first.” The company said in a press release that in testing, the feature improved response rates and lengthened conversations.
Research shows women spend more time and effort than men screening potential matches before swiping right, says Dr Rachel Katz, a digital media sociologist at the University of Salford. It is said that it became
“Given that women spend time and energy on dating apps, the first thing they have to do is expend additional energy,” she says. “I think this adds to the fatigue that is sometimes expressed on dating apps, especially for women.”
This matches Penny’s experience. “I’m not going to just bombard people with messages,” she says. “I’ve put in some effort to show that I’ve read their profile, that I’m interested, and that I’m an interesting person. Then I get a ‘Hi.’ And I’m going to work on it!
But while the move has been touted as a measure to ease the burden on female users, it is also perhaps a reaction to market forces that have seen the dating app giants face significant challenges in recent months. there will be.
Bumble, which replaced founder Whitney Wolfe Herd with Jones in January, Stock price falls 86% Match Group, which owns Tinder, OK Cupid and Hinge, has suffered a similar sharp decline after it was revealed in November of last year that the number of people paying for Tinder had fallen. down 6% in 12 months.
One industry insider said, “If you look at stock prices, you can get an overview of this movement,” pointing to market saturation and the harsh economic situation. “These are huge corporate machines, making decisions based on numbers.”
Bumble also revealed that two-thirds of women surveyed say they struggle with people not talking openly about them, leading to “intimacy without commitment” and “intimacy in life.” The company announced that it will introduce new “dating intent” badges, including “Partner” and “Ethical Non-Monogamy.” they wanted.
“I think dating apps are starting to catch up to what’s happening offline,” says Emma Sayle, founder of upscale sex party organizer Killing Kittens. The company recently launched WeAreX, an online community and dating site for “open-minded” people. “We’ve been doing this for 19 years, and we’ve seen an explosion of sexuality and gender since day one.”
Other dating apps are also increasingly diversifying, offering matching services for friendships and events for singles. According to statistics from Eventbrite, the number of dating and singles events in the UK has doubled compared to before the pandemic began.
But despite warnings of dating app fatigue, the app’s popularity appears to be holding steady, at least for now.by Pew Research Centerthe percentage of Americans who report using any type of dating site or app remained unchanged at 30%. From 2020. For those under 30, that number is 53%.
For now, Penny is in no hurry to return to the date, even if the task was not so laborious. “I look for sites where other people are doing their best to get my attention,” she says. “It hasn’t been found yet.”
*name changed
Source: www.theguardian.com
