Bumble Looks to Expand Its BFF Platform

Bumble Inc
  • Wednesday, June 15 2022 @ 09:51 am
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Bumble is focusing beyond its popular dating app and adding a new social networking feature to its BFF platform.

Bumble BFF uses the same swipe-based matching found on the dating app, but will expand options for users to include networking groups where they can connect and chat with each other based on topics of interest, according to Tech Crunch. Bumble had hinted that it was testing this new feature and it was “doing well,” according to its first quarter earnings call.

While Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd didn’t offer many details about the new feature on the call, she did describe it was a way to help “people to discover and get to know each other around shared joys and common struggles.” She also noted that over 40 percent of “active BFF users” were checking out the new feature and the various networking groups, sharing that its one-month retention was more than 75 percent, according to Tech Crunch.

Watchful, a company that monitors product intelligence to help tech companies compete effectively, managed to capture screenshots of the new social networking groups, according to Tech Crunch. It said that users can post on topic boards (video as well as text) or respond to others’ posts in group threads.

According to Watchful, there were about 30 topics available for users to explore, which included career-focused options like “women in business,” “networking + mentoring,” and “working moms,” as well as self-care and wellness groups like “finding fulfillment,” “mental health,” “body positivity,” and “eating well.” 

Other groups include “money management,” “workouts,” “single not alone,” “study hacks and motivation,” and “wanderlust,” among others.

Herd also said on the earnings call that it was looking for opportunities to monetize the feature in the future, but for now, didn’t mention charging users for access. “We are very focused on the product, building the ecosystem, the communities and really going into this new group format and testing the functionalities that we’ve been hard at work building. As we look to revenue in the future from BFF, there are really multiple pillars of opportunity — and one of them would be advertising.”

Tech Crunch points out that other social platforms like Peanut (founded by a former Badoo executive) were already building social experiences and attracting younger Gen Z users, who want more from apps then swiping and meeting people. Bumble is looking to expand its apps to engage these users, since the traditional way people use dating apps is quickly becoming irrelevant.

In addition to its dating platform and Bumble BFF for friendships, the company offers its Bumble Biz app for networking and career opportunities.