Hey all you sexy singles, are you ready to start speed dating again? The popular dating app Bumble is reportedly testing a speed dating feature in U.K. markets where users can log on to chat with strangers digitally before matching with them and seeing their profiles.
Ask any twenty-something about their experiences playing the field and they’ll all talk about how hard or annoying or frustrating it is to date. While it’s hard to tell if that difficulty is an “adulthood” thing or a “2022" thing, meeting people has gotten marginally easier with apps like Hinge, Tinder, and Bumble. The process is usually the same: You see someone you’re attracted to, shoot them a cheesy one-liner, you have some meaningless back-and-forth banter, until one of you musters up the courage to arrange a date. Bumble, however, appears to be bringing it back to basics with a new speed dating feature.
TechCrunch reports that the new feature consists of users logging onto the app on a designated night at a designated time to have brief, three-minute chats with other users. Once both parties like where things are going, only then will they be able to see each others’ photos and keep the conversation going while matched. Screenshots obtained by TechCrunch show that Speed Dating has been trialed on Thursdays at 7PM local time.
“At Bumble, we are always testing new and different ways for our community to connect,” a Bumble spokesperson told Gizmodo. “Like all tests, we will collect feedback before deciding if we roll it out more widely.”
Earlier this year, Tinder rolled out a Blind Date feature in which users would be matched based on a questionnaire and entered into a timed chat. It didn’t exactly set the dating world on fire but maybe Bumble will have more luck.