Type of site | Online dating service |
|---|---|
| Available in | English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese |
| Owner | CPC Connect Ltd |
| Created by | Gary Frisch and Henry Badenhorst |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required |
| Launched | November 1999 |
Gaydar is a profile-based dating website for gay and bisexual men.
The Gaydar website, built initially for desktop only, was created as a tool to connect gay and bisexual men all over the world for friendships, hook-ups, dating and relationships. Users create a personal 'member' profile, which is then used to interact and contact other registered members.
It was founded in 1999 in Cape Town, South Africa, by London-based South Africans Gary Frisch [1] [2] and his partner Henry Badenhorst, after a friend complained that he was too busy to look for a new boyfriend. The initial idea was based upon a then current concept of a corporate intranet that was in development under the codename "RADAR" (Rapid Access And Deployment Resource) for a prominent South African advertising conglomerate by programmers Ian Van Schalkwyk and Stephen Hadden. The site was launched in November 1999.
In May 2007, Henry Badenhorst was named by the Independent on Sunday Pink List as the fourth most influential gay person in Britain, down from third place the previous year. [3]
In 2009, Gaydar expanded into the app market, releasing its iOS and Android app as available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play.[ citation needed ]
In May 2013, it was announced that the site had been sold to Charlie Parsons, the creator of Channel 4's The Big Breakfast . [4]
In 2017, Gaydar relaunched its site, app and brand.[ citation needed ]
Registered users are able to browse through online lists of users who are logged into the site at that time, or through lists of all active profiles. Users can send messages to each other and participate in chat rooms, which — except for the Australian and Irish chat rooms — tend to be dominated by UK users. Users can upgrade to a premium account to access Gaydar VIP, which offers more features and privileges. Members may add more photos into an 'album' attached to their profile that are viewable by other members. Guests face other site restrictions, such as a daily limit of 8 messages that they can send and 25 profiles that they can view, and a limit on number of chat rooms accessible at the same time. Guests cannot view archives of sent messages, and cannot use the friends list and do not have access to all search options. About a third of users are members.
Profiles typically include standard information on age, location, physical features, sexual predilections, hobbies, and pastimes. Profiles usually include a free format description about their owner and what they seek in a partner. There is provision for profile owners to upload a number of photographs, typically of themselves — one as the 'main photo', several as 'secondary photos', and several more as 'private photos' that can be sent as attachments to private messages.
Critics allege that it facilitates barebacking (anal intercourse without a condom), [5] though this criticism is potentially true of any dating site.
Media attention was drawn in 2003 when the website was used by Labour Party MP Chris Bryant, and in 2006, when married Liberal Democrat leadership candidate Mark Oaten used it to find gay sexual partners. [2]
The chairman and co-founder of Gaydar, Gary Frisch died unexpectedly at his home in London on 11 February 2007, aged 38 years. A verdict of misadventure was recorded by Paul Knapman, the coroner at the inquest. A pathologist, Peter Wilkins, said ketamine was found in Frisch's blood and liver. [6] On 11 November 2017, co-founder Henry Badenhorst died unexpectedly at the age of 51. He was reported to have taken his own life. [7]
Meebo was an instant messaging and social networking service provider. It was founded in September 2005 by Sandy Jen, Seth Sternberg, and Elaine Wherry, and was based in Mountain View, California. Initially the company offered a web-based instant messenger service, extending its offer in more general online chat and even social networking directions. In June 2012, Google acquired Meebo to merge the company's staff with the Google+ developers team.
Romeo is a social network for gay, bisexual, queer and transgender people. The site was started as a hobby and was called GayRomeo in October 2002 by Planetromeo GmbH in Berlin, Germany. Initially only available in German the site and later its mobile app have evolved into an international platform.
Mobile dating services, also known as cell dating, cellular dating, or cell phone dating, allow individuals to chat, flirt, meet, and possibly become romantically involved by means of text messaging, mobile chatting, and the mobile web.
GaydarRadio is a podcast on Mixcloud streaming service, which used to be a British digital radio station for gay men, lesbians and gay friendly people, on DAB multiplexes in London and Brighton and also online. It was broadcast 24 hours a day, with live programming from 5am to midnight during the week, 7am to midnight at weekends.
Gay.com was a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the LGBT community. The site was a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site featured LGBT-related news and features. As of September 2005, San Jose Mercury News ranked gay.com as the most popular online gay personals site in the United States. As of March 2007, Hitwise ranked it number three in domestic American popularity after Adam4Adam and Manhunt. Gay.com also used to compete internationally with dudesnude, gayromeo, and gaydar.
Gary Frisch was co-founder of the Gaydar website. He was one of the UK's leading gay businessmen.
Badoo is a dating-focused social network founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev in 2006. It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus and London, United Kingdom, with offices in Malta, Russia and the United States. It operates in 190 countries and is available in 47 languages, making it the world's most widely used dating network. The app is available on iOS, Android, and the web. Badoo operates on a freemium model, whereby the core services can be used without payment.
Henry Badenhorst was the co-founder of the Gaydar Radio website. In May, 2007, Badenhorst was named by the Independent on Sunday Pink List the fourth most influential gay person in the United Kingdom, down from third place the previous year.
Bebo was an American social networking website that originally operated from 2005 until its bankruptcy in 2013 and relaunched in February 2021. The site relaunched several times after its bankruptcy with a number of short-lived offerings, including instant messaging and video streaming, until its acquisition by Amazon in July 2019 when it was shut down. It was announced in January 2021 that it would be returning as a new social-media site the month after. By May 2022, it had once again been shut down, without having ever left beta-testing.
Grindr is a location-based social networking and online dating application targeted towards gay and bisexual men, and transgender people.
Zoosk is an online dating service available in 25 languages and in more than 80 countries. The founders of the company are Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, who ran the company until December 2014. After struggles that year, Kelly Steckelberg became the company's new CEO. In July 2019, Zoosk became part of Spark Networks SE.
dudesnude is a popular social networking website dedicated to gay, bisexual, bicurious and men who have sex with men. The site was launched in 2002 and it has over 500,000 members. The website's purpose is to facilitate chat, dating, and setting up sexual encounters known as a "hookup". The site also has a live-streaming feature, where members can chat with others while masturbating on webcam. The company slogan is "picture, video, and profile sharing for men!" The company is based in London and the homepage is flanked by a bare chested man staring upward, partially obscuring his face.
Manjam was a social networking website that used GPS technology and social discovery to connect mutually attracted gay and bisexual men. With a large proportion of Manjam users based in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, the website was translated into 28 different languages. In order to support users from these locations, Manjam had focused on translating the site into right-to-left languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Urdu. To date, Manjam is the first gay social web application targeted exclusively for communities speaking these languages. The site was active from 2004 to 2016, when it shut down.
Scruff is an international social application for men seeking men that runs on iOS and Android devices. The app allows users to upload profiles and photos, and search for other members by location and shared interests. Users can directly message other users or they can use the app's "Woof" feature, which allows users to express interest in another user's profile.
Squirt.org, launched by Pink Triangle Press in 1999, is a Canadian website which describes itself as a place "where men meet other men for sex, cruising, hookups, dating, fun and friendship". The website, based in Toronto, is available worldwide. It includes user-generated listings of parks, saunas, public toilets and popular sexual locations for men who have sex with men (MSM). It was called "unique and ideal for cruising world-wide" by the 2006 Spartacus International Gay Guide.
GuySpy is a location based online social network, gay dating app. It is available on Android, iOS and via web browser. The app uses location based services like GPS to connect gay, bi and curious men. Through their platform users are able to create profiles with detailed descriptions and with multiple photos. They are able to chat with guys around them and send additional photos, have video messaging and provide their exact location. There is a voice option within the app as well. The app is similar to Grindr, GuySpy also has a map feature that allows the users to search for other guys in other towns and cities. The app was officially launched in 2011 for GayWhistler's WinterPride festival. In 2013 GuySpy launched The PEARL Pride Party app, which was helping users to keep up to date, build and maintain a personal schedule, share information via social networks related to global LGBT pride events and circuit parties.
Comparison of user features of messaging platforms refers to a comparison of all the various user features of various electronic instant messaging platforms. This includes a wide variety of resources; it includes standalone apps, platforms within websites, computer software, and various internal functions available on specific devices, such as iMessage for iPhones.
Clubhouse is a social audio app for iOS and Android.
Sniffies is a map-based hookup web app for gay, bisexual, and bicurious men.
Fitlads was a social networking, dating/hookup website and app for gay and bisexual men in the United Kingdom. It was launched in April 2003, and introduced video to the app in 2008.
| App-based | |
|---|---|
| Web-based | |
| Defunct | |
