Bumble BFF Sucks For Making Friends, But It’s the Only Option
This is what happens when our society prioritizes romance over friendship.
Ten years ago, it was hard to date. You just had to meet a friend of a friend at a party, date someone from school, or walk up to a stranger at a bar.
Then Grindr happened, then Tinder and Bumble and Hinge and all the rest. At first, there was a lot of backlash from society. Meeting your long-term partner via a dating app was a little embarrassing. Today, I know two married couples and five other long-term couples who met on Tinder and its variants.
So the romantic market was fulfilled. Then Bumble capitalized on the crippling loneliness many adults feel as they grow out of the built-in friendship systems like school and created Bumble BFF, an app to meet new friends. It works the same way as a dating app — you pick a nice picture, fill out a profile, and swipe left and right on profiles you like or don’t like.
I moved to a new city a few weeks ago and immediately panicked about being an adult with no infrastructure for friendship. Desperate for connection, I downloaded Bumble BFF to make some new friends.
At first, the power was heady. All these awesome people putting their best selves on display for me to swipe on…
