Developed by ex-employees of Tinder, Bumble is an app that tries to be Tinder…but better. While it hasn’t quite developed the popularity of Tinder, it still has millions of users around the world. It is no surprise that so many gay people are checking it out. But, is Bumble gay-friendly?
Bumble is 100% gay-friendly. While the app appears to not cater to anybody other than straight couples, this isn’t the case. However, when it comes to gay dating, one of the core features of Bumble is lost i.e. anybody can start the chat, rather than one person.
Is Bumble gay friendly?
Let’s explain.
How Does Bumble Work?
As we said, Bumble is very similar to Tinder. You know the drill. Swipe right if you like somebody, swipe left if you’re not their biggest fan. However, Bumble has a feature that is ever so slightly different from Tinder – it only lets the woman start the conversation.
This means that even if a man gets matched with a woman, he has to wait for the woman to reach out before the conversation can continue. This stops women from becoming overwhelmed with messages, and it makes it far, far easier for her to ignore people that she doesn’t want to chat with.
As you can probably tell, this is a feature that is aimed squarely at straight daters. Because of this feature, many people seem to (falsely) believe that Bumble isn’t gay-friendly, but it is. However, things work ever so slightly differently with Bumble when you are looking for other gay people.
How Does Bumble Work For Gay Men?
As you can probably tell from before, the women are at the heart of Bumble matches. If a woman doesn’t send the first message, nobody is talking to one another. Obviously, if you are gay, you aren’t going to be chatting to a woman. So, how do things work for you?
Well, the feature is dropped. For all same-sex relationships, Bumble drops the requirement that one person needs to message first. If you are a gay man, for example, and you get matched with another gay man then you will be able to chat with them right away. There is absolutely no need for you to wait for them to send a message.
This means that, for the most part, Bumble isn’t going to function all that differently from Tinder. However, the 24-hour time limit is still going to be in place. This means that if you do not send or receive a message within 24 hours, you’ll be automatically unmatched by somebody. This is a bid to ensure that the conversation keeps flowing, and it means that your inbox is not going to be clogged with a ton of messages from a load of different people.
How does Bumble work for gay men?
Is Bumble Gay-Friendly?
It is now. In fact, Bumble has gone to huge lengths to show that it is a gay-friendly app. However, in the past, it wasn’t a gay-friendly app. Not because it wanted to keep gay people off of the platform, but because the main feature of the app didn’t really work all that well for gay couples, particularly gay men.
This does mean that Bumble is not going to have as many gay people on it as some of the other platforms out there, mostly because gay people used to not feel welcome on the platform. Although, thankfully, this has started to change a little bit. While you still won’t find a huge number of gay people on there, you are still going to be expanding the dating pool a little bit, and this means that you will have more options when it comes to potential people to date.
Remember, just like Tinder, Bumble is an app designed for casual hookups. While we are sure that you can probably find a long-term relationship on Bumble, the chances of this are going to be much, much smaller than if you were on a different app. If you are planning on having a long-term relationship with somebody, then you’ll probably need to make that clear right from the get-go.
Over time, it is likely that Bumble will try and shake up the features that it offers to gay people a little bit more. This will ensure that everybody who uses Bumble feels nice and welcomed onto the platform.
Finally, it is worth noting that Bumble does have a few extra protections in place for gay people. Bumble is actively moderated, and if you feel that you are being unfairly targeted for your sexuality, then you are free to report the messages that you have received to the Bumble moderation team. They’ll then be able to deal with it. A lot of the time, this results in an account being banned.
Tinder vs. Bumble For Gay Dating
Because Tinder and Bumble are very similar in how they work, you may be wondering whether Tinder or Bumble are going to be better for you when it comes to gay dating. Our opinion? You should probably go for both.
To be honest, there is a lot of overlap between the people on Tinder and the people on Bumble. This means that you will have two chances to match with some of the best people on the platform. This is always an advantage. Of course, there are some people that are only available on just one of the apps, meaning that if you are not on both of them, you could be missing out on an amazing match!
Do bear in mind that Bumble only really seems to work if you are in a larger town or city. We have found that, at least for gay people, you won’t find that many people on Bumble (sometimes none) if you are in the middle of nowhere, or in certain countries. However, we have always found people available on Tinder no matter where you are.
Of course, you have nothing to lose by signing up for both Bumble and Tinder. They are both free apps (although, with paid options), and the more options you have, the merrier. It just takes a little bit of extra work to maintain your profile!
Make the most of Bumble?
Making The Most of Bumble For Gay Dating
We think that one of the main reasons why people think Bumble isn’t friendly for gay dating is because they don’t know how to use it. So, we figured that we would wrap up with a few cool tips and tricks that should help you get more matches on Bumble.
Use Decent Photos
Just like Tinder, Bumble matches are all about the first impressions on the platform. So, your main focus should always be on the photos that you upload. Make sure that they look as brilliant as possible. We recommend the following:
Only have photos including yourself, never with other people. This way, people won’t get confused about who they are actually liking on the platform.
Upload pictures of you doing your hobbies. It shows what your interests are (just in case somebody doesn’t read your profile)
Upload recent photos, and do not edit them. We’ve all had dates where people don’t look like their profile pictures and it is incredibly annoying.
Write Your Profile Properly
While many people don’t read profiles on Bumble, it is still worth writing them out. This way, if you do get a match, it gives people a way to get to know you a little bit more. You don’t need a lot of text on your profile. Just mention your hobbies, what you are on Bumble for, etc. You can always discuss more once those messages start to flow in.
Respond to Messages Quickly
As we said before, Bumble will automatically unmatch anybody who hasn’t spoken to each other in 24 hours. So, if you want to actually talk to people, then you need to ensure that you move quickly. If you fail to respond within 24 hours, then you could end up losing the potential love of your life, and we don’t want that to happen to you!
Swipe Every Day
Matches on Bumble are going to be incredibly slow. People are very picky about who they like and do not like on Bumble. So, if you want to make the most of the platform, then you need to be swiping every single day. The more people you are liking on the platform, the more chance you have of finding somebody that has liked you back!
Don’t worry if you don’t get a match right away. Some people wait days, sometimes weeks or months, before they get their first match. Just keep swiping. It will happen eventually.
Final Thoughts
Bumble is a gay-friendly website. It doesn’t appear to be due to the unique selling point of allowing the woman to message first. However, this rule is dropped when it comes to same-sex relationships. So don’t fret. If you want to use it as a gay person, then you’ll be using one of the best gay dating apps around.
Hello, my name is Gay Worlley - no, really - and I love learning about all things queer. I am also a qualified gardener and enjoy traveling in my spare time.
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