Research on the practice of using mobile dating apps
among gay group
Interviewee 1: K
K is a year-five university student who also has six-years’ experience in using mobile dating apps as well. Different from Klaus, K has come out his gay identity offline, who is a member of Sex and Gender Concern Group in CUHK. He has experienced different apps, including Blued, Grindr and Hornet to find sex partners.
We have filmed a video during the meeting with interviewee K. The above video only shows his back since he was unwilling to disclose his face. Five major discussions are shown in the video, including a brief introduction to his daily practice of using dating apps, the purpose of major users in using the apps, the reasons why he uses the app Blued, the online body representations of users and some common language in the gay community.
K mentioned that he met his current boyfriend through the dating app, which reveals the possibility of searching long-term relationships online. In the discussion on filters, he pointed out that Blued is pioneering in this aspect for it provides the function for free. The diverse options of body-types as “niche market” that fulfill diverse demands of various users are highlighted. Nevertheless, masculine body with sunshine image is still the dominant ideal type in the community, and he has also uploaded some masculine photos in his profile as well. For the language part, K mentioned some “codes” that are commonly used online, including “member”, “bb or safe”, “ltr”, “ons”, “nsa”, etc, which require a kind of membership to understand. Users are using such common language for searching the guy they desire in an aggressive approach.
Interviewee 2: Klaus
Klaus is a year-three university student who has six-years’ experience in using mobile dating apps. Owing to the confusion of his sexual orientation, his first attempt of using the app was to know more deeply about the gay community. As he does not come out his gay identity in reality, he thinks the dating apps provide a shelter for him to meet different gay men in a “safe network”.
Klaus uses the app Blued most frequently with the purpose of finding sex partners. He thinks that the filter function of Blued contribute a lot and assist him a lot in doing so, for it provides diverse options of body conditions. As a veteran user, Klaus mentioned that it is an improvement for Blued to offer diverse kinds of body-type selection. Nonetheless, masculinity is still the current mainstream and ideal body-type online. For instance, some male prostitutes would upload naked masculine photos so as to attract online customers. For the language part, he mentioned that the wordings they use are usually straight-forward. Most of the users, including himself are taking an active and agressive approach to search for sex partners.