Cheaper Than Therapy

Cheaper Than Therapy

Share this post

Cheaper Than Therapy
Cheaper Than Therapy
The Bumble Audacity
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

The Bumble Audacity

Billions in profit and this is the best marketing you could come up with? Really?

Shani Silver's avatar
Shani Silver
May 15, 2024
∙ Paid
45

Share this post

Cheaper Than Therapy
Cheaper Than Therapy
The Bumble Audacity
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
18
2
Share

Welcome to Cheaper Than Therapy, a healing newsletter for 80s babies by Shani Silver. This newsletter does not publish free content, but if you’d like to read it you can become a paid subscriber here. Thank you for enjoying the work of independent writers.

Image via AdAge

The founder of Bumble met her husband on a ski trip. I just want to make that clear as we begin so that you know while she’s touting her success to the tune of billions and the Bumble team is revamping the app so that not all the responsibility is on women anymore and talking about how AI can improve dating with a straight face you’ll know that everything she’s overcomplicated she also acquired for herself very simply. She met her husband while she was living her life, and she doesn’t want you to know that you can, too. The truth is not good for business.

Yes I’ve seen the billboards. Yes I’ve seen Bumble laugh in our faces and try to belittle what agency we have left in dating so that in our shame we return to the app and give it more money to show us the same men we’ve swiped through for years and just enough new ones to remind us they still think of these apps as free sex work. You will delete it days if not hours after you redownload it. You already know that, and I’ve already told you. I’ve been telling you since 2019. But will anyone listen? I don’t know. I see glimmers of movement, but I’ve done this work long enough to know the dating industry is stronger than I am. Dating apps figured out how to take a basic human desire and twist it into an addictive slot machine that dangles love just out of reach—forever. On a fucking ski trip.

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Shani Silver
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More