Life for LGBT persons today in many ways doesn’t come close to resembling life at the time of the 1969 Stonewall riots. Marriage equality, for instance, was virtually inconceivable then. And the idea that the President of the United States would support the freedom of same-sex couples to marry, was entirely out of the question.
Similarly, a mere 10 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that mobile technology would alter how we find and form connections — especially for gay men. From my perspective, the efforts of gay rights champions and gay men’s love affair with technology have coalesced to alter our social lives. Look around in major U.S. “gayborhoods” and you’re likely to see a much altered scene of people and businesses present, and a lot of male faces buried in the screens of their smartphones.
First generation dating apps are viewed as the most promising place — by far — to find a hookup, with over 50 percent of the respondents ranking it number one in a list of several possible uses for these apps. According to the men in our survey, prior to the advent of dating apps, bars held that title, but they are now a distant second.
We asked men to indicate the type of relationship they use the app to find; 66 percent said they use them to seek long-term potential, 64 percent to find friends. So the majority of men we surveyed use these apps hoping to find more than a fun fling.
wow, a survey concluding the blatantly obvious… who would’ve thunk it? LOL
Well, duh. Its safer, you can do so from home and you can keep it private. This is just the tip of the iceberg. But its just simpler. And some of these studs are hot!
Well frankly a lot can be said for the new virtual online dating thing. Having lived through my coming out in the early 80’s, I find online seraching for potential partners a very sad thing indeed.
Back when, when you were having to go out to meet people (bars or what have you) you at least in the presence of the person and had to engage.
Now with virtual online – men have become far more picky on what it is they seek. They can claim to look for their perfect partner but in fact they want the perfect man. Beautiful sculpted figure, excessively handsome, a dick that would put the lone ranger’s Silver to shame. The point I am making is they are making their wish list unrealistic. In turn they don’t find it – get discouraged and in turn get discouraged with the gay scene in general. That’s how sad this has become. Good old fashion way – face to face get out there is the only way to really meet anyone for who they really are.
Virtual has taken away the art of proper socialism. Now they don’t like you – they prejudge based on photo alone, and you are right away, by the click of a move on the ignore list and well – there you go –
You call this means better? I do not.
and sorry for the spelling errors – i should have spelled checked that first, but at such an early hour – i was barely awake. Please forgive me.
To the guy above, who sadly didn’t leave a name: BRAVO! You are spot on! Once upon a time people met and found out about each other, what they were like and whether they were compatible or not. Now if you don’t fit within a very specific age group you are dismissed out of hand (don’t get me wrong, it goes on in the real world too, ageism is everywhere) unless of course you’re Brad Pitt! lol It’s great to have a look at what’s out there, and hook up at times, but it doesn’t beat old fashion cruising! 😛
I like the man in the last pic. He has a sexy hot big thick cock.
I don’t see how apps are safer. At least in a bar you got witnesses, especially if your out with friends. At home by yourself, you don’t know who’s gonna be at your door. You can’t use a fake photo in a bar.
Yes they can give false names etc and there’s still a danger, but I think the danger is less. Only recently there were the 2 guys that used a fake profile to attack a guy in his home.
The aps are great if you either travel or live in a larger city or town. If you are in a small town there are still limited…VERY LIMITED options.
I agree with the above comments. The demise of the gay bars is a double edged sword. They used to be the relatively safe community meeting place for socializing and activism. The fact that they are fading is also a sign of the growing importance of the internet in social matters , but also the demise of direct social interaction and all it’s benefits. The bars disappearing also shows the progress that we have made by being more accepted outside gay enclaves into ordinary neighborhoods, but they will still persist for years to come.
Also, from the comments above, it seems few people used the link. If you go to the Huff Post article, the psychiatrist that did the study used it to create a gay app…”Stagg”…just launched for IPads only.. Apparently Squirt didn’t read the whole article as it promotes a competing app to itself.
^Yeah, but who’s going to care about something that’s only for iShit products?
I think it is more worth while to use the internet to find the “man of your dreams”..
I did and that was 13 years ago, AND we will soon be married. We visited a few times, then moved in together.
The “man with no name” is correct. It’s disheartening to be dismissed out of hand via these apps — sure, there’s getting ignored because your stats aren’t what someone wants, but it’s really the PICTURES that do it. I could have Mark Henderson take a headshot of me and someone would STILL rule me out based on the photo alone, because they’re only seeing one image of me. Our faces *move* — you don’t get that with a picture. So someone looks at a picture, they don’t like that still image and you’re done. It’s really sad.