Bumble launches digital snooze button that lets you take a mental health break
Our phones are a never-ending stream of noise.
The relentless stream of notifications, alerts, and messages can make you feel like you're on the receiving end of a barrage that just won't stop.
Bumble has introduced a tool that might help to abate some of that noise — at least the noise coming from your matches.
AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections
Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups
Enter "Snooze" -- a new feature which lets you pause your activity on the app. Not only that, the tool also includes "options for prioritising mental wellbeing, digital detox, or holidaying."
Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble founder and CEO, said in a statement that Bumble was committed to investing in its users' "safety and wellbeing".
"The impact of social media, especially on young women, has the potential to be very harmful."
"The impact of social media, especially on young women, has the potential to be very harmful and we have a responsibility to give our users the power to disconnect on their own terms whenever they see fit," says Wolfe Herd. "We know Snooze will allow them to come back to us feeling refreshed and more open to new connections."
Per a Bumble statement, the dating app recently conducted a survey into 2,250 people and found that over 60 percent of women aged between 18 and 24 felt "overwhelmed by social media."
Bumble's in-house sociologist Dr. Jessica Carbino said social media can give young women "unrealistic perceptions" of "what they should be" and how others perceive them. "These unrealistic expectations may ultimately have negative consequences for their physical and emotional well-being," says Carbino.
So, how does Snooze work? All you have to do is update to the most recent version of the Bumble app. Go to your Settings, and right at the very top you'll spot "Snooze mode." Once you've tapped, you'll be given four options about the duration of your invisibility on the app.
You can choose to be "invisible" for 24 hours, 72 hours, a week, or indefinitely. The app then gives you the option of setting a status for your matches while you're away. This step is optional, however, and you don't need to provide a reason for snoozing.
Other dating apps: take note!
Topics Health
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
