Bumble ditches its rule that kept men from making the first move

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Bumble is officially giving up on the rule that made it, well, Bumble.

The dating app announced Tuesday that anyone in a match can now send the first message, ending the women-message-first requirement that has been one of the company’s defining features for more than a decade.

Bumble is also giving matches 72 hours to respond, up from 24, in an effort to take some of the pressure out of coming up with a response in a short time frame. The longer window gives people more flexibility to reply, rather than feeling like they need to check the app constantly or risk a match disappearing.

The change marks a pretty significant shift for Bumble, which built its brand around putting women in control of heterosexual dating conversations. When the app launched in 2014, Bumble was positioned as the more considerate alternative to Tinder, with women deciding whether a conversation would...

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