3 things to know about Bumble’s new selfie requirement

Dating apps want to start cracking down on catfishers

Here are a few things to know:

1. Many apps have this problem

According to this article in Refinery29:

Aside from encountering creeps and starting conversations that just don’t go anywhere, one major problem online daters face is catfishing. According to a report by Glamour, as many as one in 10 online dating profiles is fake.

Tinder is home to a number of catfishing bots and multiple Reddit threads have complained about fake profiles on the app Bumble, Vocativ reported.

2. Now you can tell if the high-profile user accounts are real

According to this article in Mashable:

Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe told Mashable the feature was in part inspired by some of the app’s more high-profile users, whose accounts are often reported because other users assume they’re fake. This, by the way, is a problem on other dating apps too — Tinder also cited this as a reason for its verification process.

But, unlike Tinder and other social networks who reserve verified badges for celebrities and other public figures, Bumble is opening up its verification process to all its users. The feature will expand to all users in an update expected within the next two weeks, according to Wolfe.

Wolfe says that it should improve the experience for all users, both from a safety perspective and in terms of engagement — even if you’re not a public figure. While it’s too early to say what the impact of the feature will be, she says that early tests indicate verified users have more success on the app.

3. The app will ask for different selfie prompts

According to this article in Enstars:

Don’t think you can just post any regular cheesy selfie, either. The app will roll out over 100 different selfie prompts, each of which will vary from user to user. And unless you have quite the backlog of selfies on your camera roll, you probably won’t be able to fake a “peace sign with left eye closed” pose. The selfie will then be cross-referenced with your profile photos by a moderator, and then either approved or not.