Bumble Predicts 2025 Will Be the Year of Platonic Friendships

The Short Version: After surveying thousands of its young user base, Bumble has once again released its dating trend predictions for the upcoming year. According to the app, 2025 will be the year of dependability, bonding, and platonic friendships, as well as micro-trends and small but meaningful romantic gestures. 

‘Tis the season for Bumble’s annual dating trend predictions. Last year, the dating app predicted that 2024 would be filled with judgment-free dates and emotional vulnerability. As 2025 approaches, so too does another year of unforgettable dates, exciting hookups, and fateful meet cutes. 

Bumble once again surveyed over 40,000 Gen Z and millennial daters and used their answers to predict the upcoming year of dating trends. 

According to the surveyed singles, 2025 could very well be the year of the ultimatum. Couples may have enjoyed deep, emotional conversations in 2024 — vulnerability never goes out of style, after all — but 2025 is the perfect time for people to finally make real decisions about their love lives. 

If 2024 was all about the journey, 2025 will be all about the destination. 

The Bumble team encourages daters to use the intel they gained this year to inform their romantic decisions in 2025. There’s never been a better time for people to state their truths and seek out dependable partners. In such unpredictable times, people need stability — and a little lighthearted fun — more than ever. 

The internet is the great divider, but it can also bring people together. Bumble is proof that the online world is full of romantic possibilities. And outside of the dating app, young women around the world are connecting over their shared dating experiences. 

Who among us hasn’t wanted to flee from an awful first date, or propose marriage after a few too many drinks? This content is relatable, reassuring, and for the most part, authentic. 

Forty-one percent of surveyed singles told Bumble they enjoy seeing dating and relationship content on social media. On TikTok and other social media platforms, people are sharing their unique dating stories that prove none of us are quite as unique as we think we are. 

In fact, 42% of women reported that this content helps them feel less self-conscious and lonely. When a 20-something woman simultaneously blends out her contour while calmly talking about the time she accidentally went on a date with her cousin, people aren’t only entertained — they’re comforted. 

Forty-one percent of surveyed singles told Bumble they enjoy seeing dating and relationship content on social media.

According to Bumble, 1 in 3 (35%) respondents said they feel more hopeful about their own romantic futures when they see other women going through the same process. This content has a positive effect; it encourages women to laugh at the wild, unpredictable dating world instead of sinking into negativity. 

It’s the online equivalent of sitting at a diner with the “Sex and the City” ladies and gasping at each other’s dating escapades. Together, women can learn from each other’s mistakes and narrow down the qualities they’re looking for in a partner. 

Bumble concluded that these stories, plus the rising unpredictability of the real world, has encouraged women, in particular, to seek out stable long-term relationships. 

Ninety-five percent of Bumble’s surveyed adults said that real-world issues affect their dating lives. People are more discerning about who they go out with, and they’re clarifying their values from the beginning. Moodiness and unpredictability is out; dependability and steadiness are in. 

Emotionally available men with clear intentions and steady values have captured the eyes of 59% of Bumble’s female respondents. 

In 2025, candid conversations about dating, values, and real-world issues won’t only happen on TikTok. A promising 1 in 4 (27%) surveyed women told Bumble that they prioritize having these same candid conversations with their dates. 

Men play just as big a role in the dating world as women, and in 2024, they had comedic male stereotypes to contend with. From Finance Bros to “babygirls” to himbos to golden retriever boyfriends, men were placed into these newly created categories based on vibes alone. 

Bumble predicts these stereotypes will only grow more specific in the upcoming year. 

Although these “male casting” categories are largely comedic, it hasn’t stopped men surveyed by Bumble from feeling offended. Twenty-seven percent reported feeling uncomfortable about being filed into stereotypical categories. With new tropes popping up practically every week, some men are reportedly worried about being mischaracterized. 

More than half of surveyed women (53%) agreed that couples should communicate about what these tropes really say about men and masculinity, according to Bumble. After all, a Finance Bro boyfriend might not love being compared to a materialistic robot, and a himbo probably wouldn’t react well to being called dumb. 

And then there are, as Bumble called them, the “guys that get it” — the men who prove themselves to be trustworthy enough for women to befriend platonically. These guys would probably be the first to point out that male tropes are not too different from, say, the bimbos, ‘moms’, divas, and shrews of the world. 

In 2025, the guys that get it, or the male best friends, just may have their time to shine, according to Bumble. And since 33% of respondents told Bumble that male stereotypes have risen in popularity this past year, having a clear dialogue between men and women about these topics could be beneficial. 

Women, it seems, are open to lasting friendships with men. Thirty-one percent of surveyed women told Bumble they have shared details about their dating lives with their male friends. And 54% said they trust their male friends to provide honest insight into the male psyche. 

Platonic male/female friendships can even keep women safe in the dating world. Of those surveyed by Bumble, 22% have asked their male friends to verify their dates.

Bridging the male/female divide promotes bonding, and just may help some men graduate from internet tropes once and for all. 

Love will never go out of style, and neither will declarations of love. What hasn’t stood the test of time are sweeping grand gestures, specifically those categorized under “love bombing.” Elaborate proposals are one thing; someone leaving countless packages filled with rose petals and love notes at their ex’s door is just alarming. PDA-filled trips to the grocery store also aren’t everyone’s idea of “romantic.” 

Since 52% of surveyed women told Bumble that they consider themselves to be romantics, it’s clear romance isn’t going anywhere. Everyone — men, women, and non-binary folks alike — wants their partner to show they care. Bumble predicts that grand gestures may be replaced by small but meaningful acts of love in 2025. 

Nowadays, romance can be found in everything from a silly meme to a flirty voice note to, as Bumble posits, a simple inside joke. Eighty-six percent of surveyed singles agree: As long as there’s genuine consideration and thought behind a small gesture, it can feel as grand as the canyon itself.

Connected to these small but meaningful gestures are our niche interests, which Bumble predicts will be the key to people’s hearts in 2025. Small communities of people with niche interests have grown on TikTok, from Knit Tok to Book Tok to Meditation Tok to Clean Tok to the ASMR community. 

Bumble added 30 new Interest Badges so people’s profiles can further stand out from the crowd. 

Bumble took note, and when 46% of surveyed singles told the dating app that they’re attracted to people with unique interests, it was quick to add 30 new Interest Badges so people’s profiles can further stand out from the crowd. 

Fandoms and clubs have always been great places to meet likeminded people. Fifty percent of surveyed women told Bumble that sharing a niche passion with one’s S.O. makes it even easier to be themselves. No more hiding a passion for high fantasy novels or crocheting or fanfiction under a bushel!

If someone’s version of micro-mance is a romantic night spent catching up on the latest sci-fi series, then do it. There’s nothing more romantic than being invited into someone’s niche interest. Nearly half of the Gen Z singles surveyed by Bumble agreed that sharing a niche interest with someone is a form of intimacy. They’re called “passions” for a reason! 

A niche interest can often act as a safe space for people. Anyone who is welcomed into a safe space should consider themselves lucky. It’s a clear sign that their significant other trusts them enough to let them in, and that they value their company. 

2025 is not only the year of stability and clear-cut truths, but the year of unbridled passion. If Bumble’s predictions are accurate, then we have 12 months of wholesome bonding experiences, unexpected friendships, and small-but-romantic gestures to look forward to.