Building valuable, healthy relationships are central to living a positive and productive life. Bumble has helped change the way we interact, breaking down old-fashioned power dynamics and encouraging women to make the first move. Over the next month, we’re celebrating love. We’ve partnered with Bumble to highlight interesting ways to start a conversation, how to find love in the digital age, how to cultivate intimacy as we emerge from isolation and more. Alongside our helpful and inspiring content, we’ll also share stories of ‘the one that got away’ — because sometimes it’s the love before that leads you to The One.
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Finding love in the digital age is a whole different ballgame to the experience of previous generations.
For one, the accessibility of technology has made it way easier to connect with others and virtually “meet” people you never would have without it.
The digital age has also given women more power when it comes to dating, as the traditional rules of courtship have firmly been thrown out the window and dating apps like Bumble reign supreme when it comes to meeting someone special.
“Our research has shown that more than half (52%) of Australian singles aged 18-45 years have used a dating app to make a romantic connection,” Lucille McCart, Bumble lead marketer and associate director, told TheLatch—.
“The tide has changed when it comes to how people are meeting and forming social connections, and the stigma around finding love online really doesn’t exist anymore.
“So for us at Bumble, it is less about trying to convince people to use an app to find a date and more about showing them that we are the best and safest option.”
Women’s safety and empowerment is priority number one for the team at Bumble and this technology has allowed women to rewrite the rules when it comes to their personal dating experience.
“Bumble was founded with the goal of putting women in the driver’s seat of their dating lives, which is why women always make the first move,” McCart said.
“We’ve changed the rules of dating by empowering women to go after what they want and with more than 95 million users around the world, we are here to stay.”
Online dating also gives you access to a lot of info about your match before you meet IRL, so you can thank the Internet for making dating that much easier.
“There are less surprises with someone that you meet online compared to someone who you might meet in a bar or somewhere else like that,” McCart said.
“Many of our users will link their Instagram and Spotify accounts to their Bumble profile, and in the run-up to an IRL date, you’re able to get to know someone a lot better by texting or video calling through the app.
“So once you actually meet someone you already have a good idea of whether they are a good match for you, and you’ve already covered a lot of the ‘first date’ topics and can get to know each other in a more intimate way.”
While online dating is arguably the most convenient way to meet a potential match — you literally don’t have to leave your bed to conduct a conversation — there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of connecting with someone spesh. Think of these as your virtual dating toolkit.
— Know who you are and understand your needs in a partner
Before hopping on Bumble, it’s good to have an idea of who you are, what you like to do with your time and ultimately, the things that make you happy. From here, you can attempt to find someone who is compatible with your lifestyle and vice versa.
Writing down a few qualities that are important for you to find in a partner is also a good way to identify what you’re looking for. While you’ll never find a perfect person who ticks every box, finding someone who loves dogs, doesn’t smoke and has a good sense of humour might be super important for you and good to know from the get-go.
This isn’t about creating a list of qualities and disregarding those who don’t possess them but it just allows you to be a little more discerning in your choices and makes looking for love a smidge easier.
— Be upfront about what you’re looking for
If you’re looking for a relationship, then be upfront about this with your matches. There’s a whole spectrum of people on Bumble — those looking for a relationship, those looking for something more casual and others who just aren’t sure.
There’s no right or wrong here but if you’re looking for something long-term and you’re chatting with someone who wants something more casual, it could end in heartache.
If finding love is the aim of the game, let the people you’ve matched with know this.
— Be honest and detailed with the information in your profile
Technology has drastically changed our attention spans and we often flit between social media apps while watching TV and holding down a virtual conversation. This coupled with the fact that many people are time-poor means that if your profile isn’t up to scratch, people might swipe on by.
Filling out your profile completely will give you a better chance of catching the attention of someone who is on your wavelength. This means filling out all the details about you — like your height, what type of relationship you’re after, your political preferences and whether or not you’re religious etc.
Writing a short blurb about yourself in the bio section is also important. As nice as photos are — and obviously important to gather the level of physical attraction — this blurb helps Bumble users identify whether they’re keen to get to know you or not. Without the bio, how will we know what you like to do on the weekend or what your favourite food is? It seems small but it’s important.
Finding love online probably won’t happen in a matter of days but with a little persistence, you’ll soon find a special someone to binge Netflix with, go to the movies and all the other fun things in relationships. Good luck!