How Bumble is Changing Dating Norms

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: You know, I heard you say that it’s almost like reverse- engineering the relationship experience, because men are trained to — quote — “go get them.” Women are trained in terms of — you know, by society, to wait, play hard to get, wait for the guy to make the first move. Talk to me a little bit about that. And how have you found that reverse- engineering working out?

WHITNEY WOLFE HERD, CEO AND FOUNDER, BUMBLE: Yes. No, that’s a great way to frame it. Technology has this remarkable ability to either perpetuate behavior or to rewrite it. And I was very, very dissatisfied with the way relationships were set for women. It was almost like it was written. And we all had to subscribe to the same rules. But these rules were archaic. And not only were they disempowering for women. They were actually really disempowering for men as well. To put all this pressure on men and to assume that they should go hunting for a relationship, to only be rejected and turned down time and time again, that’s not healthy for men either. And so by shifting this, by tweaking this, and by putting women in the driver’s seat, not only are you finally giving women control over the most important aspect of their lives, their relationships, but you’re also just leveling the playing field and stabilizing the situation for everyone. This reduces harassment, rejection, insecurities. And it really just creates a kinder ecosystem. And if you look at technology more broadly, bad behavior has only been put on blast, and we have only been allowed to do more of it, right, if you look at social media more broadly. And Bumble has always been about drawing a line in the sand and saying, why not do it differently? Why not have consequences for bad behavior? We have always been very proactive in banning bad behavior. And this is something that not only women can benefit from, but everybody. When you make relationships better for women, you make relationships better for everybody.