How To Start a Conversation on Bumble

Bumble is one of the many dating apps out there who positions itself as a disruptor planning to change the way we do things. All new apps consider themselves disruptive and usually fail at changing anything but Bumble does at least try something different. It forces women to start the conversation.

While there are many women out there more than happy to make the first move, Bumble specifically gives women the power. You still swipe right to like and left to not like but all the first moves are made by women. Men on Bumble cannot initiate conversation at all.

This is a neat idea and will deal with one of the main issues with dating websites and apps. The toxicity of some men and the desperation of others can be a real turn off for women and Bumble neatly sidesteps that. Men still swipe to show their preferences but that’s all they can do. The rest is up to women.

Not only does this make Bumble a nicer place for women, it also forces men to up their game. Knowing that they are not the ones making choices, men now have to work much harder to attract a mate. That should result in higher quality profiles and better images. It should also mean the players and douches go somewhere else, leaving Bumble to those genuinely on the market.

Getting started on Bumble

Bumble is a dating app that was started by someone who worked on the early Tinder. To get started, you need to download the app and create a profile as you normally would.

1. Download the app for your device. Android from here, iOS from here.
2. Set up an account and create a profile.
3. Add images and answer all the questions. Connect it with your Facebook account if you like and it will take images from there.
4. Add Spotify links if you want and any ancillary information. Bumble does ask about employers and universities but that information is optional.
5. Verify your profile when prompted by taking a selfie.
6. Navigate to settings and set up some preferences. Check Distance to set a maximum limit on search range and Age to restrict search to a range you are comfortable with.
7. Set Bumble to show a particular sex or BFF and allow Push notifications if you like.

That is all you need to do to begin using Bumble.

Start a conversation on Bumble

To start using Bumble, you will need to set a search preference as in Step 7. You can search Men, women, Men & Women or BFF. This is open, so if you want to search for the same sex, you can. If you want a couple, you can search them. If you also one something completely platonic, you can do that too by selecting BFF.

Once you have selected a search, you are presented with the profile cards like in other apps. You take a look and swipe right if you like the look of them or left if you don’t. If you match with someone who also swiped right on you, conversation is possible.

If you are a woman and you get a match, you will see a Boom! page. This tells you that you have both swiped right and can connect. Female users then have the option to Start a Chat or Keep Bumbling. You would obviously want to select Start a Chat to have a conversation.

You will then be taken to the chat app that looks not dissimilar to iMessage with a yellow colorway. You can initiate the conversation here like you would in any app. Type something, include an image, GIF or whatever and send. The person replies and the conversation flows from there.

Time is of the essence

One thing to know about Bumble is that when you get a match you only have 24 hours to initiate a conversation. If you don’t start a chat within that time the match expires and disappears. I don’t know if the same person will appear later with another opportunity to swipe right.

So if you get the Boom! page and the opportunity to start a conversation on Bumble, you have better take it. Within 24 hours anyway, otherwise you might miss out. I don’t quite know why a match should expire aside from creating a sense of urgency, but it does so we have to work with it.

Starting a conversation in Bumble is fine if you’re a woman. It puts the power firmly in the hands of the female and even as a guy, I actually think that is a good idea.

What do you think of Bumble? Like it? Hate it? Give us your opinion below!