Tinder slowly rolls out Bumble-like feature ‘My Move’ that lets women message first

Tinder
is testing out a feature that, similar to Bumble, allows women
more control by being the sole starters of conversations with
matches.

Teerawit
Chankowet/Shutterstock

• Tinder has been testing a new feature called “My Move” that
  lets women message a match first before allowing men to message
  them.
• The feature isn’t available in the US yet, but Tinder says it
  plans to roll it out to American users in the future if the test
  goes well.

Tinder has rolled out a new feature on its app in India that
allows women to limit conversations with male matches to those
they choose to start — a female-centric option that draws
similarities to rival dating app Bumble.

The new feature, which will roll out to the US if the test is
successful, has existed on India’s version of the popular dating
app for “several months,” Reuters
reported Tuesday. Women who turn on the “My Move” feature in
their settings will be the only one in heterosexual matches who
can initiate chats.

MarketWatch first reported back in February on Tinder’s
plans to release the Bumble-like feature. Mandy Ginsberg, chief
executive at Tinder’s parent company Match Group, told
MarketWatch that the new feature was important in giving women
more control over how they engage with matches and was “not a
reaction to any competitor.” 

“We have to constantly listen to what women want and
address their needs, not just on Tinder but on all products,”
Ginsberg said in February. In addition to Tinder, Match Group
also owns popular dating sites Match.com and OkCupid.

Bumble and Tinder have long
had an intense rivalry that includes lawsuits claiming patent
infringement and theft of trade secrets. Additionally, Tinder
co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd — who left the company and sued
Tinder, alleging sexual harassment and discrimination — went on
to co-found rival Bumble.

While Tinder
boasts an estimated 50 million users compared to
Bumble’s 37 million, the newer Bumble has been closing the
gap and expanding at faster rates than its rival. Tinder parent
Match Group also reportedly attempted to
acquire Bumble in the past year, but was unsuccessful.

Bumble declined Business Insider’s request for comment Tuesday in
response to news of Tinder’s women-centric feature. Instead, a
spokesperson pointed to comments that Wolfe Herd, Bumble’s
current CEO, made
to TechCrunch back in February that commended “any company
making business decisions that empower women.”

India serves as Tinder’s largest Asian market, which made it a
suitable place to test out the new feature, Match Group executive
Taru Kapoor told Reuters. Kapoor, general manager for the company
in India, says Tinder is trying to attract more women to the app
in India, which was ranked 130th out of 189 countries the
United Nations
evaluated for gender equality in 2017.

“Women have the autonomy on how to be engaged, to be empowered,
to control their experience,” Kapoor said. “We’re a
platform based on mutual respect, consent, and choice.”

Although the option does not yet exist on Tinder’s U.S. edition,
the company told Reuters it plans to eventually roll it out to
the rest of its global audience if the trial runs successfully.
No set date for this release was made available.

Tinder had not responded to request for comment by the time of
publication.