Bumble founder: Online dating makes people feel "judged, insecure and rejected"
"We have been leaning on algorithms but haven't paused to say: 'What are these products doing to people?'"
There is a glaring contradiction at the heart of most dating apps' business models.
Services like Tinder may claim to want to help their users find love. But if people manage to navigate these modern hellscapes and actually meet a partner, why would they bother using the app anymore? And so where will the revenue come from?
Now the founder of one of the world's most popular dating apps appears to have said what's on everyone's minds.
Whitney Wolfe Herd launched Bumble in 2014 to empower women by allowing them to make the first move in matches. Since then, it has expanded into friendship and professional networking services.
On an earnings call this week, Herd issued an astonishing criticism of the industry she helped to create - and is now trying to change.
"The demand for love right now is stronger than it arguably has ever been in modern time," she said. "People need to meet each other. People want to meet each other. We are a society that needs relationships, we need connection, we need love."
Having "lived and breathed" dating apps for more than a decade, Herd has been in a unique position to observe the impacts on society.
She added: "While we have been leaning on algorithms and product to find love, we maybe haven't paused to really say, what are these products doing to people? How are they making them feel? Dating was meant to be a fun and viral and easy way to connect.
"And as time has gone on, that low-friction environment has led to people feeling judged, feeling insecure, feeling rejected."
What happened to the buzz around Bumble?
Bumble HQ
— Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD (@arghavan_salles) May 14, 2024
“We don’t have enough women on the app.”
“They’d rather be alone than deal with men.”
“Should we teach men to be better?”
“No, we should shame women so they come back to the app.”
“Yes! Let’s make them feel bad for choosing celibacy. Great idea!” pic.twitter.com/115zDdGKZo
Bumble is facing some challenging headwinds right now after it made a spectacular faux pas with an anti-celibacy billboard ad campaign. The app's Q4 2024 revenue declined 4% year-over-year to $212 million.
Herd will return as CEO in March 2025 to address these challenges, leading a refresh of the app to enhance user engagement and introduce AI features.
She admitted that online dating "really took off" among millennials. When asked if there was a "generational shift" and Gen Z was getting fed up with apps, she said: "The demand is still there."
Zoomers aren't just looking for love but using Bumble to make friends. And apparently, their partners don't mind them logging into an app known for dating whilst in exclusive relationships.
Herd said: "When you look at the post-grad audience, which is Gen Z, they are eager, and I hate to use this word, but quite literally desperate to find friends. They've left this super dense environment where they're surrounded by friends. They've gone out into the real world. They're young, they're social.
"They want to meet people, and they're looking for community and friends. And so, what's really exciting about the extensibility and the stretchiness if you will, of our brand, is it is not associated with merely a "dating app" Bumble really lends itself to a much broader lifestyle brand.
"Women, in particular, have no issue joining our product even when they're in a romantic relationship so that they can find community."
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