You’ve decided to take the leap and join Bumble. Maybe you’ve just come out of a relationship that dragged on a little too long and is champing at the bit to get back out there, or perhaps you’re new on the scene, and Bumble is where you’re making your big debut!
There’s plenty to think about. How does Bumble work? Will I find the one? And can my friends see me on Bumble?! Whether you’re feeling bashful about using Bumble or you’re worried about a certain someone seeing you there, it’s a fair question that has been asked before.
So, can your friends see you on Bumble? The only way your friends can see you on Bumble is if they also have a Bumble account and come across you, swiping as nature intended. Bumble does collect certain basic data about you, as well as accessing your Facebook friends list as well as contacts from linked accounts, for instance, Instagram.
However, it keeps its cards close to its chest with how those things come into play in regard to your potential matches and who you see on the app, as well as who can see your profile on Bumble.
Considering the point of Bumble is to connect to people near you (which you want, right?) it seems pretty inevitable that you’ll run into someone you know, and vice versa. You can’t search for individual users on Bumble, though, so no one will be able to hunt you down!
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Who Can See Me On Bumble?
The best way to control and understand who will see you is by using the filters on the app. So really, it’s mostly in your hands.
Bumble will rarely show you someone outside of your chosen groups, for example, age range or radius, though it can do under some circumstances.
For example, if you are in someone else’s selected age range, and they’ve swiped like crazy and run out of perfect matches, they may show up on your feed even if your filters exclude them.
So if there’s a particular person or people you’re keen to avoid, say, the group of your older sister’s friends who teased you mercilessly when you were a kid (unless you’re into that kind of thing) I’d recommend adjusting your settings to exclude their age or proximity and pray that they don’t travel!
Does Bumble Show Mutual Facebook Friends?
No, Bumble doesn’t show mutual Facebook friends. In the old days of Bumble, once you matched with someone you were shown your mutual Facebook friends.
More recently Bumble has ditched this feature, potentially because people wanted more anonymity on the app.
I think it’s kinda fun seeing what friends you have in common, it can help me gauge whether they’re someone I want to get to know! Though maybe this way forces me to be less judgemental.
Can You Stop Certain People From Seeing You On Bumble?
Maybe you don’t want your ex to know that you’re dating again. More than one friend of mine has come across a sibling on dating apps, which is roughly the last thing you want to happen.
Unfortunately, the answer is no, you can’t stop certain people from seeing you on Bumble.
Bumble is no different from other popular dating apps in that you can only prevent someone from accessing your profile by blocking them. And to block them, you first have to match.
This is a bit surprising since Bumble claims to prioritize safety and prevention of harassment (they take reporting and complaints pretty seriously).
Obviously, there are exceptions, but ultimately I would try and embrace the fact that these days it’s more unusual not to be on a dating app than it is to be on one, and coming across familiar faces on Bumble is a common occurrence for all, so don’t sweat it!
You can read more on this in my in-depth article on Bumble privacy 2023
Can You Go Private On Bumble?
There are times when you would just rather duck out of dating for a bit.
Sometimes things just get in the way and you end up feeling like the bad guy for having no time to reply to your messages.
The good news is yes, you can go private on Bumble. Two different ways to do this are ‘incognito mode’ and ‘snooze mode’.
While incognito mode is for premium members only, snooze mode is available to all users.
Incognito Mode
“Can I hide my profile on Bumble?” is something I found myself wondering when I want a bit more of a lowkey Bumble experience.
Incognito mode will hide your profile from everyone’s feed until you’ve swiped right on them, allowing you to fly under the radar while you swipe to your heart’s content. Sounds perfect, right? A little too perfect?
This feature is, of course, only available to premium members. Something to consider if you’re stressed that your friends will see you on Bumble!
Snooze
Snooze is a great setting on Bumble and is available to all users. It’s not quite the stealth mode you get with incognito, but it will stop you from appearing in people’s feeds unless you’ve already matched with them and started a conversation.
Snooze mode is perfect for when you’ve got so many chats on the go you don’t know how to handle it because you’re just that irresistible! A problem I know I struggle with constantly… ahem.
It can also be good when you’ve made a few matches and want to ensure your profile won’t pop up for your friends any time soon.
You can activate snooze mode easily in your settings and choose the time period you’d like to snooze for.
There are a few different options to mess around with who can and can’t see you on Bumble, but I’d say the chances are high that they’ll stumble across you if you’re on the app for a while, especially considering you’ll have a lot of mutual Facebook friends and close proximity.
If all your friends are on Bumble and that’s stressing you out, why not take my quiz and find out which dating app would be best for you.
