{"id":735075,"date":"2026-08-12T00:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T00:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/735075\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T00:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T00:34:17","slug":"bumble-drops-women-first-chat-rule-as-dating-apps-seek-engagement-boost-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/735075\/","title":{"rendered":"Bumble drops women-first chat rule as dating apps seek engagement boost | Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bumble on Tuesday said it would begin allowing either person \u2060in a match to send the first message, dropping the women-first messaging rule \u2060that has \u2060been \u200ba defining feature of the dating app since its launch in 2014.<\/p>\n

The move \u2060comes as dating-app companies across the globe grapple with user fatigue toward traditional swipe-based platforms and slowing \u2060growth, prompting some, including Bumble and Tinder-owner Match Group, to \u200broll out new \u200cfeatures and artificial intelligence-powered \u200ctools aimed at improving engagement.<\/p>\n

Since Bumble\u2019s inception, only women \u200ccould initiate conversations in heterosexual matches on the app, unlike most dating apps, including Tinder, where either user can send the first message.<\/p>\n

Bumble said tests in Canada have shown higher chat initiation rates, \u200cfewer expired chats and more mutual conversations after the changes were introduced.<\/p>\n

The company \u200bis also extending the reply window for a match to 72 hours from 24 hours as it seeks to increase conversations and reduce the number of matches that expire \u2060without interaction.<\/p>\n

The changes are a response to \u200bdemands \u200bfrom users for \u201cmore flexibility, less \u200bpressure, and more opportunities to create real, \u200bmeaningful connections\u201d, \u200cfounder and \u200bCEO Whitney \u200bWolfe Herd said.<\/p>\n

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Earlier this month, Bumble forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates and reported a 16.4% decline in paying users. Match Group has likewise reported disappointing earnings throughout 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bumble on Tuesday said it would begin allowing either person \u2060in a match to send the first message,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":735076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-735075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/735076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}