Bumble is trialling a new speed-dating feature, which allows some users to chat with one another – without seeing each other’s pictures – for three minutes before deciding whether to match or not.
If someone said to you that they were planning on going speed dating, what would your reaction be?
In the past, I probably would have been surprised, hysterically laughing or asking why – but at a time when people are lining up to ditch dating apps and meet people IRL, speed dating is having a bit of a resurgence.
You only have to look at dating apps like Thursday – which has successfully brought an IRL element to the process with their weekly in-person events – and the growing resistance to online dating to see that meeting someone in person is a highly coveted rarity.
And with speed dating becoming en vogue again, we could be experiencing a renaissance in IRL dating, with people putting themselves forward quite literally. But there’s another dating app that has taken notice of this and is getting in on the trend in a virtual capacity.
Bumble has been testing a speed-dating feature on the app in the UK, which sees people embrace the old-school dating trend.
Some Bumble users can sign up to speed date every Thursday at 7pm, where they can engage in a three-minute conversation with other members before they’ve seen their photo or matched (yes, you’ve read that correctly).
If the chat goes well, the members can choose to match, reveal each other’s photos and keep the conversation flowing.
“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.”
It comes after other dating apps have been trialling new features to improve the online dating experience. Tinder launched its Fast Chat: Blind Date feature earlier this year, where users answer ice-breaker questions and enter a timed chat without knowing any other details about their potential match.
With more of us having a desire to meet someone in-person, recreating the speed dating experience on an app may be the way to spruce up the current landscape.
And if you’re one of the lucky ones able to trial the new feature, your future partner may be only one speed-date away.
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