Bumble Inc

Image: Bumble

Dating app Bumble will offer a real-life Bantr on its platform, the fictional dating app made famous on hit TV series Ted Lasso.

Starting October 13th and through the end of the year on Thursdays at 7pm, Bumble is offering Bantr Live, and operates much like the fictional app, according to the company’s blog post. When you decide to play, you won’t be able to see or swipe on other daters’ profiles. Instead, you will be paired at random to strike up a text chat with someone who matches your location, age and gender preferences, but you won’t be able to see photos or their profile (just their name). Much like Bantr on Ted Lasso, these events are meant to spark conversation ahead of seeing what someone looks like to make for a more genuine match from the start.

Participants get three minutes to decide if they want to keep chatting, and then they are matched with the next participant to see if a connection can be made. At the end of the event, users can see who matched with them. At this point, they will be able to see the profiles and photos of these matches.

Bumble is testing a new speed dating feature in the U.K. to see how effective it is in getting users to engage with each other over the app.

According to Tech Crunch, the company has been alerting U.K. users to a specific date and time when the virtual speed dating event happens, so they can choose to join. When they do, they are not shown their dates’ photos up front – instead, they briefly chat before photos are revealed.

Tech Crunch did share how the feature worked, and that it’s being presented as a game rather than an event (referring to attendees as “players” who click a “play game” button to start). Participants must agree to some rules (similar to Facebook’s speed dating app Sparked), where they are asked to “keep it respectful” before they can play. They also must agree to not ask about their date’s looks – the reveal comes later, after the two have decided there’s a connection. Each couple is given three minutes to chat before they can see each other’s photos.

Bumble’s first original series to launch in India, Dating These Nights, was so popular it is back again with a third season.

The teaser for the series includes candid interviews with singles and celebrities about different topics of modern dating that don’t often get discussed openly. The series went live September 2nd on the company’s YouTube channel, and features filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, popular actor Mrunal Thakur, and star of the recently released film Darlings Vijay Varma, among others.

According to ANI Business Wire India, the first episode is entitled “Romances and Bromances” and features a conversation between Akhtar and actor Jim Sarbh to discuss what “healthy masculinity” looks like today.

Dating app Bumble wants to extend its platform beyond dating and into social networking and virtual friendships through a new community feature – now dubbed “Hive.”

Hive is currently being tested, the company revealed in a recent earnings call with investors. While the company’s revenue projections have been lowered through the end of the year in part due to the app being pulled from Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine, it is moving ahead on development projects.

Social networking has become an important part of Bumble’s growth strategy. Hive is in essence a revamping of its Bumble BFF friend-finding feature, and will offer things like group chat, polls and video calls to help people better connect over the app, according to Tech Crunch. The article pointed out that Hive focuses on helping people find “platonic connections through small communities.” In other words, Bumble is focusing on making the feature community-driven where people can drop in and out of conversations depending on their shared interests. 

Dating app company Bumble has lowered its revenue forecasts through the end of the year, signaling that the boost from pandemic dating might be over.

Bumble adjusted its annual revenue to be between $920 million and $930 million for the year, lower than previous forecasts and market estimates of $934-$944 million. The company’s stock fell 13 percent after the news according to Reuters.

This news follows that of competitor Match Group, which also fell short of expected earnings for Q2. In the wake of the downturn, Match Group announced the lowering of its projected revenue for Q3, with a company shake-up that included halting development for metaverse dating and virtual currency and a restructuring of its executive leadership. Match Group’s stock also took a hit, dropping 20 percent in value after the company released its letter to shareholders.

Bumble Gender Options

Image: Bumble

In response to recent criticisms from its non-binary users, Bumble has announced changes to its app to create a better, more inclusive experience.

According to NBC News, Bumble has now updated its gender preference options to include non-binary as its own category for dating profiles. When a user chooses, they are prompted to “add more.” For example, a user identifying as a woman can choose from trans, intersex woman, transfeminine and cis woman, among others. Men can choose from intersex man, trans man, transmasculine, etc. If a user doesn’t identify with any descriptor on the list, they can add their own. Nonbinary users can choose from numerous descriptors, including bigender, genderfluid, gender questioning, and pangender among others.

Prior to this change, Bumble tested a pilot feature where users could choose non-binary as an option for gender preference, but this option was listed under the “male” and female” gender options, one of which had to be selected first.