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.

BLK Profile Badges

Image: blk

BLK, a dating app for black singles, is rolling out an array of new profile stickers for users to highlight who they are and spark conversations with potential matches.

The company is offering a range of badges to help users identify themselves through more than just pictures, a feature many dating apps offer, but this one particularly unique to the black experience. BLK also wanted to add to the community building on its platform, which took off along with the racial justice movement in 2020 when users were sharing resources with each other over the app and engaging in conversations about their experiences.

The new badges are artistic and whimsical and include choices such as “Black biz owner” and “Community activist” to describe work, as well as “Caribbean Descent” and “Afro Latino” to identify cultural roots, and “Naturally Dope” to highlight allegiance to the natural hair movement. Other identifiers like “Poly” and “Transgender” are available to choose from too, according to Business Insider, for a total of 30 badges. The stickers were designed by Colombian-born and now New York-based artist Leonel Gonzalez.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and other popular social platforms, has frozen hiring of new staff for some of its divisions, including Facebook Dating.

Meta’s stock price is down almost 43 percent this year, and the company has gotten serious about streamlining its business. It has stopped hiring for certain engineering roles, but also for recruiters and low-level data scientists, according to The Verge. Facebook Dating has had disappointing results despite high expectations when it first launched.

Reviews show that many Facebook Dating users were having problems matching when they used the service and blamed the problem on fake profiles proliferating on the app. Considering the number of dating apps which use Facebook’s authentication system to verify new profiles, it should be easier for the company to get rid of fake accounts to create a better experience for users.

Dating app Hinge announced it has started a fund to support aspiring therapists and counselors from the LGBTQ and BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) communities. It will be providing $10,000 in scholarship to ten people towards their education in these fields, according to Mashable.  

From May 18 through June 17, applications for the fund will be open to U.S. college and graduate students in the mental health field, who can apply via the website HingeAdvocatesofTomorrow.com. According to Mashable, applicants complete the form and respond to two prompts about the mental health and wellness needs of the LGBTQ and/or BIPOC communities, and from there, twenty finalists will be selected. The finalists will be asked to create a video about how the scholarship will support their individual journey as well as their career.

Hinge has also collaborated with artist and mental health advocate Fariha Rosin, who authored a book on mental health resources for marginalized communities. She said in the company’s press release: “These times can be really dark and overwhelming in a lot of ways and that’s why we need mental health advocates. This initiative is helping people become the light bearers, creating generational ripple effects of healing.”

Dating app Hinge launches its latest feature aimed to spark conversation around self-care, a topic that has become popular in the wake of the pandemic.

Self-Care Prompts are meant to be conversation starters that specifically address mental health awareness, where users provide responses which populate their profiles, according to Tech Crunch. Users can choose up to three new self-care prompts to talk about from a total of 15 Hinge provides.

Some of the prompts Hinge offers include: “My last journal entry was about…,” “The last time I cried happy tears was…,” “My friends ask me for advice about…,” “To me, relaxation is…,” “I feel most supported when…,” “A boundary of mine is…,” “When I need advice, I go to…,” “I hype myself up by…,” “My self-care routine is…,” “I wind down by…,” “Therapy recently taught me…,” and “I get myself out of a funk by…”

Shares of dating company Bumble Inc rose 11 percent after news of the company’s earnings were released, with revenue beating analyst expectations.

According to Reuters, the number of total paying users across Bumble properties increased by 7.2 percent to 3 million during the first quarter of this year, increasing revenue to $211.2 million, surpassing analyst expectations of $208.30 million. Bumble apps include its signature apps, Badoo, and French dating app Fruitz among others.

Research firm Apptopia also found that Bumble downloads in the U.S. increased 20.6 percent during the first quarter, and monthly average users rose 13.7 percent compared to the same quarter last year.