Bumble no longer requires women to send the first message

• Bumble is getting rid of its signature requirement that women initiate the conversation – well, sort of.

• The dating app is introducing a feature called “Opening Moves.”

• It allows women to ask a question that all matches can answer, meaning men could be the first to message.

Bumble is removing its defining feature that required women to make the first move.

The dating app announced something called “Opening Moves” on Tuesday, which will see men send first messages in some cases.

Starting Tuesday, the feature allows women to ask a question that all of their matches can answer to get the conversation started. They can choose one of the questions offered by Bumble or create their own. In non-binary or same-sex matches, each person can ask or answer the question.

Lidiane Jones, CEO of Bumble, said in a press release that the option represents a shift “from a fixed approach to giving women more options in how they engage.”

“Listening to our community, many have shared their exhaustion with the current online dating experience, and for some, that means taking the first step,” she said. “Women also tell us that empowerment today is not just about control, but also about agency, and we’re excited to offer more choices in how women are taking the first step with our new Opening Moves feature. »

Bumble found in testing that opening gestures increased “chat initiation and response rates, as well as increased time spent in conversation,” the release said.

Jones had recently hinted that Bumble might stop asking women to reach out first. During a fourth-quarter earnings conference call last month, she told investors that taking the first step “feels like a burden today for a subset of our customers.”

The change marks the first time Bumble will allow men to speak first since the app was founded in 2014 by former CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd.

Beyond the opening moves, Bumble is shaking up its look with a redesign, one of several changes made since Jones took over as CEO in January.

Read the original article on Business Insider