There's an app for anything and everything lately and dating/meeting people apps are and always have been popular. One of the most recent additions to the world of dating apps is Bumble. What sets this app apart is that it can be a friendship community as well as a dating app. By switching one setting, you can decide whether you want to find prospective romances or prospective BFF's, which is pretty cool.
However, like with any dating app (or "friendship finder"), there is always the question of whether or not it's really worth it. To Bumble or not to Bumble you, might ask yourself.
Here I've compiled a list of pros and cons to help you make your decision.
Pros
You are in control of the situation
Like with any dating site you get to control who you want to connect with. You view their profiles so you're able to see facts about them that give you an idea of whether or not you might potentially be interested. You control whether or not you swipe right so you control who is able to contact you and who you want to contact. You have a semblance more control over the situation than you might in the real world since in real life you can't just swipe left to prevent that creepy guy from coming up and trapping you in unwanted conversation.
First connections are slightly less awkward than in real life.
Reaching out with first interactions on Bumble, like with any online atmosphere, you have time to deliberate your responses. Instead of being face-to-face in real time, you can read the other person's messages and give yourself a little bit more time to really decide on how you want to respond. There's less pressure and less awkwardness this way.
It's less embarrassing than some sites may be.
While you can adjust most dating apps to filter your possible matches to people of your age, Bumble seems to be more geared towards people of the younger generation. Plus, it's slightly more geared towards people looking for more serious relationships which sets it apart from Tinder which (while this isn't true in all cases) is more typically used for hooking up.
You don't HAVE to be looking for a romance.
Other apps are specifically made for finding a romantic partner or hook up, but Bumble changed the game so it caters to each specific person. Someone who moves to a new area can utilize the app to meet new people in their area to find some potential new friends. By changing a setting, it filters out romantic options in favor of other people in the area also looking to meet new people/friends. This makes the app more well rounded and applicable to a larger number of people.
Cons
It can be hard (like with any app/ dating site) to find people with your same values.
So many people who use these sites/apps are only looking to hook up. While Bumble is slightly better with this than some apps, it still has the same problem. There are always going to be the people who want nothing more than a hook up and assume everyone else is on their same page. And there is essentially no way to filter these people out of your potential matches. You could swipe right on someone who seems perfect in their profile and then if they swipe with you also, they can now message you. It's hard to get away from them once you open that door so that can be pretty frustrating.
It's impersonal/less dependable.
Meeting someone online is way less personal and trustworthy than meeting someone organically in real life. Some people are great conversationalists online, but as soon as you meet up with them in person, they can't hold a conversation at all. Online personas can be extremely misleading. You also don't really get to know the REAL them, only who they are via messaging, at least at first. You can't beat an actual face-to-face first impression.
It can lead to connections that start off based off of physical appearances (through pictures) than actual chemistry.
In order to swipe right on someone people are typically looking first at their pictures to determine if they are physically attracted to them or not. Some people stop there. Especially when people don't have in depth blurbs about who they are in their profiles the initial swipe has to come based on physical attraction alone which can lead to some pretty vain attractions. When you meet people in real life, your decision about whether you are interested enough to pursue further communication comes from more than how they look, it comes from the actual first impression you get of the person and their vibes- not how they look. You don't get that same initial connection through an app.
In the end, I don't think there's any right or wrong answer. Dating apps work for some people and aren't the right choice for others. You could get lucky or very unlucky. It all depends on who you are and who you happen to meet.
I would say there's nothing wrong with giving it a shot. The worst that can happen is you don't like it, so you delete it. If you are considering giving Bumble a try - go for it! You may be pleasantly surprised (and if you're not, deleting an app is super easy).
