It’s a cycle that’s been seen time and time again. Hinge was designed to replace Tinder, which was designed to replace OkCupid. Now, the latest and greatest dating app — Bumble — has come out, and its innovative design gives women all the power.
Bumble’s UX is not unlike Tinder. Users are only able to talk to one another if they both swipe right. However, only women can take the first step, and they only have 24 hours after matching to do so. If the guy wants to, he can give her another 24 hours, but she still has to initiate.
The idea behind the innovation is that there’s still a safeguard against creeps. Tinder’s innovative design — the idea of only being able to talk to someone after mutually swiping right — failed. After all, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Although male Bumble users may turn out to be creepy jerks after the conversation starts, Bumble at least can save women from the avalanche of cliche, cheesy pick up lines, and come ons.
That is, until Bumble launched its new feature that’s intended to further improve the oft-awkward dynamics of online dating. The creators tweaked the algorithm so that it could thin out flakes, jerks, trolls, creeps, and any other sort of weirdo that may lurk out there in cyberspace.
It’ll measure how users behave, and reward “good” behavior with a verified status — a “VIBee” — that acts as a filter the way age can. Users can earn VIBee status by repsonding to messages, and swiping judiciously, so that the quality of matches is prioritized over the quantity.
As to whether or not it works, only time will tell. Maybe a few months from now there will be a whole ton of buzz about the new app that’s changing the way people date, or perhaps it’ll fizzle out, as Tinder seems to be doing lately.
