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- Bumble's new guidelines now include standing up a date as a form of "bullying and abusive conduct."
- Bumble told Insider it could take action against someone who ghosts a mutually agreed-upon date.
- However, you're still allowed to stop communicating with someone without providing explanation.
If you've ever made plans to meet up with a date only to find that they've seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth, you might now be able to seek retribution — at least if you found your date on Bumble.
The online dating company recently updated its community guidelines to explicitly include ghosting someone on a date as an action that falls under "bullying and abusive conduct."
"Our community is all about creating kind connections. We aim to create an experience which is free from behavior that makes any individual or group feel harassed, bullied, or targeted," the company's policy page reads. "Members may not not show up to an in-person meet up despite clear plans agreed by both parties."
These rules also apply to Bumble BFF, the company's platonic platform for meeting friends.
While it's always been possible to block and report other users on the app, this new inclusion under the company's guidelines might make it easier to ensure that there are actually consequences for standing someone up, like being removed from the app. However, it also brings up questions about what could happen in more thorny situations — such as if someone no longer feels comfortable messaging the person they previously agreed to a date with out of fear of how they could respond, or if they found something troubling on the person's social media that made them no longer feel safe to go on the date.
Under a page about reporting other people on the app, the company says "we'll use any information you can provide to investigate and prevent members who don't follow community guidelines from using Bumble."
You only need to worry about getting in trouble on the app for ghosting someone if you've actually stood them up on existing plans, though — simply ending communication with a match doesn't break Bumble policy.
A Bumble spokesperson said in a statement to Insider that "ghosting" under the company's policy is when a member doesn't show up on an in-person date and:
- Clear and agreed plans were confirmed by both parties (either on Bumble or on another platform with screenshots depicting this)
- No contact prior to or after the date has been made by the reported party to explain the behavior
The company will only take action for ghosting if it meets those criteria. It's still okay (under the app's guidelines, at least) to cancel plans at the last minute or stand someone up and give an explanation afterwards.
While getting someone removed from the app might not be the answer to healing hurt feelings, it could prevent a serial ghoster from doing the same to someone else in the future.
And if you do end up getting stood up on a date, the company is already thinking about ways to further incorporate AI into Bumble to make future pursuits feel more effortless, which CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said could help people "find their happiness a lot quicker, a lot safer, and a lot better."