After the dating app Bumble botched an ad campaign last month, media sources across the spectrum have published various features on the recent decline in the popularity of dating apps.

Female Burnout: An analysis from the Financial Times (Center bias) highlighted how female users are suffering from “burnout” on platforms like Tinder and Bumble. It highlighted how, recently, fewer women are using the apps than men, skewing the app’s overall experience, and that companies are positioning themselves on how to better attract female users.

Faux Activism: Sarah Manavis, writing for The New Statesman (Left bias), described Bumble’s ad campaign as “tone-deaf” and noted that since its successful IPO in 2021, Bumble’s share price has fallen by 85%. Manavis emphasized Bumble’s longstanding female-first approach and argued this recent “episode reveals a fundamental truth about tech companies that sell themselves as a kind of social good: the apps that claim to exist to better our lives aren’t altruistic.”

Leftist App: Abigail Anthony of National Review (Right bias) argued Bumble’s recent feature addition that allows men to message women first shows that the “outdated heterosexual dating norms” Bumble tried to challenge remain desirable. Anthony argued that Bumble “alienated moderates a long time ago” and criticized it for only allowing users to select from a pool of mostly progressive political views when making their profiles.