How the dating app Bumble is empowering women and making online dating safer
Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is revealing a new initiative called "Moves Making Impact." Users on the dating app -- where women must make the first move -- pick a cause to support: human rights, public policy or economic development. Bumble then donates to women making a difference in their community.
"We are so excited about this because we've given women the opportunity to make the first move," Wolfe Herd told "CBS This Morning." "Love, friendship, business. But now their first moves can go beyond themselves and impact a woman in the world, and that woman that we're impacting is impacting a woman in their community, so it has this catalytic effect."
Wolfe Herd said it's all about empowering women and helping to make change.
"It is about paying it forward and giving women the opportunity to be change-makers through their daily lives," she said. "And if we're asking you to make the first move, why would we stop at empowering you?"
Bumble was founded in 2014. Since then, it has grown to more than 55 million users in 150 countries. The company is also working to make the internet safer for women with a new feature called "Private Detector." It warns users about inappropriate photos.
"[Bumble Founding Partner Andrey Andreev] has actually taken technology to detect at 98 percent efficiency if a photo has inappropriate content," Wolfe Herd said. "So a user might receive a photo, it will be blurred, we do not allow photo sharing that is not blurred, we really have protective measures. And if there is something inappropriate it will give you a warning not to open this photo."
Wolfe Herd is taking her crusade to make the internet safer beyond the app. She testified on Thursday in favor of Texas House Bill 2789, which makes sending a lewd photo without consent illegal.
"Why is it allowed digitally when it's not allowed in the streets?" Wolfe Herd asked. "People are operating on their phone. We need to keep the internet safe."
