Speed Dating Is Bumble's Newest Feature That Helps You Make The Most Of Your Dating Profile

Crafting the perfect dating profile is a daunting experience. As if trying to pick out the right photos wasn't stressful enough, you have to put words to those pictures that show a bunch of strangers how great you are. With over 360 million people worldwide using dating apps, the competition to stand out and catch someone's eye is huge (via Statista).

Because of this, apps have created features that give users the opportunity to match and interact with other daters in unique ways. For example, in 2019, Bumble became one of the first apps to introduce voice calls and in-app video chats. But while these fun and creative ways spice up the monotony of swiping, swiping, swiping, sometimes going old school is exactly what we need, even if we don't realize it.

Bumble is taking us back to when speed dating was a fairly common occurrence. For those too young to remember such a time, speed dating involved gatherings of singles, usually at a bar or café, where people would essentially have mini-dates as they moved from one table to the next, having short, time-limited chats. But what makes Bumble's digital version exciting is that you can't see what your match looks like. You get to know someone blindly, based on conversation alone. This might be the ideal time to throw your physical expectations out the window and get to know someone from the inside out.

Acknowledging the fact that making time to date (in addition to everything else we have on our plate) can be a struggle, Bumble decided to give users the opportunity to speed date with their app. Every Thursday night between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. (your local time), you can log onto their Speed Dating Game where you'll be matched with another speed dater. With only access to their name and age, you have three minutes to chat with someone before the conversation is ended by Bumble. At that point, you'll be shown a photo of the person you just had your speed date with, and you can vote "yes" or "no," as to whether or not you enjoyed your chat. No matter which way you vote, you're given the opportunity to continue speeding dating until the hour is over. Then, whomever you matched with will pop up in your collection of matches.

So while, yes, you're going in blind, you do see what the person looks like before deciding whether or not the conversation went well, which can kind of mess things up. As much as intentional dating has become more common, it doesn't mean that what you thought was a love connection can't, for some people, be affected by someone's looks — it might not be nice to say, but it's true. We can't ignore the fact that ultimately many humans have biases and what we regard as beauty differs from person to person.  

Dating apps roll out these new features to make the dating experience more fun. As much as mindlessly swiping can kill time, not unlike doomscrolling, it can also suck the life out of dating and the interest to continue doing it. No one wants that. When you engage in games and new features that dating apps offer, you're really making use of your account and getting your dating profile recognition that it normally wouldn't get if you just stuck to swiping.

While the thought of chatting with someone for three minutes may seem intimidating, especially since you don't see your date's profile so coming up with an opener is even more difficult than usual, it forces you a bit out of your comfort zone. You're putting yourself on the spot and chatting with someone who has put themselves on the spot, too. There's a shared vulnerability that levels the playing field for both you and your fellow speed dater, and that can make you feel like you're in it together. 

Even if the idea of trying to get the most out of knowing someone within three minutes seems silly or even impossible, it's still not an opportunity to let pass you by. All dates are either hit or miss, so if you devote three minutes to something that's a miss, then you've wasted minimal time. But if three minutes brings you a hit, then it will have definitely been worth it.