As users encounter more negative experiences, the popularity of friendship apps is waning. With Bumble’s stock values showing a decrease, the app will attempt to regain its popularity with a new design that eliminates the requirement for women to make the first move.
As users encounter more negative experiences, the popularity of friendship apps is waning. Disappointed by bot accounts, subscription costs, and the high effort with little reward, Generation Z is now steering clear of these apps, hoping to meet people in real life instead. Earlier this year, “Bustle” declared that friendship apps are in a “collapse era.”
Apps are striving to combat this trend. On Tuesday, after months of internal turmoil and stock market troubles, Bumble will attempt to regain its popularity with a new design that eliminates the requirement for women to make the first move.
The company’s new feature, called “First Moves,” allows women to pose a question on their profiles, such as “What’s your dream vacation?”, for the men they match with to answer.
Critiques pushed for change
This change is a significant step for Bumble. Until now, if a man matched with a woman on the app, he had to wait for her to message him. If she didn’t initiate a conversation, the match would expire after 24 hours.
Whitney Wolfe Herd, who founded Bumble in 2014 based on her own personal experiences, stated that her goal was to give women more control. However, over the years, Bumble received feedback suggesting that making the first move was too much effort or burden for women. In response, Herd began to consider how to alleviate this pressure. She said that the “First Moves” feature is a result of this process, providing a way for women to maintain control without feeling the stress of initiating every conversation.
Source: New York Times