THE GUARDIAN - "We [gay men] kind of created the concept of online dating," claims Grindr's CEO, George Arison. Prior to Grindr, gay men had found connection through a variety of means, including classified ads, phone chat lines and, during the late 1990s and 2000s, dating sites such as Gaydar and Manhunt, with the former having 5M subscribers in 2009. While Match.com was launched in 1995, before Gaydar and Manhunt, Arison claims many straight people were still "weirded out" by the concept of online dating at that time. Then, in 2009, along came Grindr. Founded and launched by Joel Simkhai just nine months after Apple added GPS functionality to the iPhone, it was one of, if not the first popular location-based dating apps in the world, a full three years before Tinder was launched. Fifteen years on, its core functionality remains largely unchanged. It allows users to chat with other gay and bisexual men in their immediate area (with location details down to the number of feet away another user is) and arrange to meet up - often for sex.
30 posts categorized "Gaydar"
How 15 Years of Grindr Has Affected Gay Communities and Dating Culture
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LGBTQ+ Online Dating: a Historical Overview
THE BAY AREA REPORTER - In 1993, Andy Cramer, the CEO of Caregiving Network, founded Gay.Net, one of the earliest platforms for gay men, especially during the HIV/AIDS crisis. This bulletin board system (BBS) later merged with Gay.com, reaching 4M users by 1999. Back in 1987, Jean Marie Diaz in the U.S. established Sappho, a hub for lesbian email lists. Amy Goodloe further expanded the online lesbian community with lesbian.org in the mid-1990s. In 1999, Gary Frisch and Henry Badenhorst introduced Gaydar, offering chat rooms for queer men. OkCupid launched in 2004 and, while not exclusively LGBTQ+, became popular within the queer community. By 2021, it had broadened its gender and sexual orientation identifiers to 60, collaborating with organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD. Joel Simkhai launched Grindr in 2009, the first geolocation dating app specifically for gay men, later expanding its offerings and user base. After leaving Grindr, Simkhai founded Motto, a dating app that aimed to counter "toxicity and discrimination" in some queer dating platforms. In 2015, Robyn Exton established HER, originally known as Dattch, as a platform for the "FLINTA (female, lesbian, intersex, trans, and agender) community," focusing on both dating and community aspects. Tser stands as a dating app for the transgender community, presenting itself as both a dating platform and social community for trans individuals and allies.
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The Co-Founder Of Gaydar Has Died Aged 51
BUZZFEED - Nov 12 - Henry Badenhorst, the co-founder of Gaydar dating website, has died after falling from a tower block in South Africa. It is understood he killed himself. Along with Gary Frisch, his business and romantic partner, Badenhorst founded Gaydar in Nov 1999. Frisch died in 2007 – he also fell to his death from the balcony of a building. Badenhorst described the loss of Frisch as the worst day of his life and according to friends he never fully recovered from it. The couple dreamed up the website after a single gay friend of theirs had been complaining about how hard it was to find a boyfriend on existing online dating sites. At the peak of Gaydar's success, it had ~5M subscribers.
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Gaydar Has Been Sold To The Creator Of Channel 4′s Big Breakfast
PINKNEWS - May 17 - British TV producer Charlie Parsons, who created Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and The Word, has added Gaydar.co.uk to his business portfolio. QSoft Consulting, the former owner of dating site Gaydar.co.uk, announced in May 2012 it was seeking a “significant cash investment” to fund its “ambition for global growth”. Gaydar founder Henry Badenhorst has left the company and the new management team, led by Trevor Martin, will include Charlie Parsons and Mark Speeks who will both join the Gaydar board of directors with immediate effect.
by Scott Roberts
The full article was originally published at Pink News, but is no longer available.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
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Gaydar Fights Back With Mobile Web Service
GAYSTARNEWS - May 3 - Gaydar responds to strong competition in gay men’s smartphone dating market with release of new service and promises changes to Gaydar Girls soon. The new mobile site brings ‘find a guy near you’ features without app restrictions – so users have greater freedom on the kinds of pictures they upload, and it works on all devices. The new mobile web service uses the same database as the desktop version.
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Gaydar Closes Profile Bar And Club In Soho
GAYSTARNEWS - Jan 7 - Just days after closing its radio station, Gaydar pulls out of the nightlife business. Profile and Lo Profile, in the heart of the British capital’s gay district on Wardour Street, will shut today (7 January). They said that was so they could focus on their core digital dating brands – Gaydar and Gaydar Girls.
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Vending Men Manchester 2012
- Ticket #603 - An 11-night adventure in Cape Town for 2
- Ticket #293 - A 2 night stay in the Axel Hotel Berlin with 2 x VIP Tickets to HustlaBall Berlin on Friday 19th October 2012
- Ticket #590 - £150 voucher from designer underwear brand Bone Wear.
- Tickets #613, #227, #078, #198 - Street wear from designer label Areosol.
- Ticket #115 - A £150 voucher from the hottest underwear brand in Greece Modus Vivendi.
To claim your prize, scan or take a photo of your voucher and email to [email protected] along with your contact.
The full article was originally published at Gaydar Blog, but is no longer available.
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20% Of Gaydar Users Planning Civil Partnerships Next Year
PINK NEWS - Apr 3 - A poll released by Gaydar today says a fifth of its users are planning to become someone’s civil partner in the next year. 60% said they would wear an engagement ring, presumably consistently. 45% would like a religious ceremony and 48% intend to walk up an aisle at their civil partnership.
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30,000 Gaydar Users Opt In To STI Notifications
PINK NEWS - Mar 1 - 31,714 Gaydar members in the UK have opted in for the Sexual Health Messaging Service in the three months since it launched on 29 Nov last year. The messages are also available on Fitlads, Recon and Manhunt. The Sexual Health Messaging Service, sometimes referred to as Partner Notification, is funded by a grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Men diagnosed at a participating clinic can be given a unique code for use on the website. There, contact information for recent partners can be typed in: mobile phone numbers, email or a profile name from a participating dating website. They are then sent an automated message, alerting them to the fact that they should get themselves checked out. The messages can be anonymous, but backers say recipients are more likely to take action if the sender is identified.
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Men Urged To Opt In For Nationwide Sexual Health Messaging Service
PINK NEWS - Nov 29 - The GMFA Sexual Health Messaging Service, which allows men to alert previous partners when they are diagnosed with an infection, is set to be rolled out to more clinics and websites with funding from the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The GMFA has worked with Gaydar, Fitlads, Recon and Manhunt. After receiving a diagnosis at a clinic, the system offers users a unique PIN code to access the online SHMS service. Once there, contact details for recent sexual partners can be typed in, from mobile phone numbers to profile names. Messages can be sent anonymously, but the GMFA says the recipient may be more likely to take action if a name is included.
by Stephen Gray
See full article at Pink News
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Interview: Henry Badenhorst, the Gaydar Guy
PINK NEWS - June 21 - Henry Badenhorst is arguably one of Britain’s most influential gay men. The source of his influence comes from his ownership of Gaydar, the online dating platform he co-founded, which boasts ~6M subscribers worldwide. While Gaydar is hugely popular in the UK, South Africa and Australia, the service hasn’t replicated that success in America. Gaydar initially entered the US market via a partner, but with mixed results. Looking ahead Badenhorst is contemplating becoming involved with London’s annual Pride event, which he thinks pales in comparison to similar events held by Sydney and Brighton.
by Laurence Watts
See full article at Pink News
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Match Point For Internet Dating Sites
SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY - Feb 13 - According to Experian Hitwise, the UK's most popular dating site is PlentyofFish, whose founder last week accused an alleged hacker of trying to extort money from PlentyofFish. Globally, PlentyofFish has ~28N users, so last week's supposed theft amounts to only the tiniest fraction of the site's total population. However, this is an industry where trust is paramount. Bill Dobbie, CEO Cupid, says: "I am investigating how we can inject more trust into our websites," referring to the technical security issues that are coming into increasing focus throughout the industry. Cupid covers a string of niche sites such as Flirt.com, Cupid.com, PlanetSappho.com and BeNaughty.com, and has more than 9M members in 29 countries. BeNaughty is the UK's 8th most popular site, accounting for 2.62% of all visits in this category. PlentyOfFish has a 19.27%t share, followed by Match.com on 7.82% and Gaydar on 6.4%. Such figures, however, do not reflect a site's "success rate" in pairing up happy new couples. FULL ARTICLE @ SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
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Marketing Guru Phil Henricks :: Keeping Gaydar On The Radar
Q: Is it true that that Gaydar started because the founder’s friend wanted a boyfriend?
A: Yup. Necessity was the father of this invention.
Q: Is Gaydar geared toward relationships, or are the people who are using it really just looking for sex?
A: Gaydar is what you make it. There’s something for everyone.
Q: Is it just me or does it seem like there are no lesbian dating sites?
A: There are very few lesbian dating websites. It’s a smaller market, but also I think girls prefer to meet under more traditional circumstances.
Q: Peak times?
A: Monday nights are hot. Sundays from 5 to 11 p.m. is second, followed by Tuesdays.
Q: Where is the future of the Gaydar site headed?
A: The Android Gaydar app should be ready shortly after Valentine’s Day. Beyond the app, we’re giving the website an extreme makeover, which will be really fun. Look for that in early summer.
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Gaydar.net Launches New App
POPULAR PUBLICITY - Dec 14 - New Gaydar app is available today via the iTunes App Store. All 12M Gaydar.net profile photos have been rated by the in-house Customer Relations team to abide by Apple’s guidelines, ensuring the app’s public content is suitable for all ages.
The full article was originally published at Popular Publicity, but is no longer available.
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Gaydar Is Top iPhone Dating App
METRO.CO.UK - Dec 8 - The Gaydar iPhone app is currently the top dating app and the ninth most popular app overall. The free app features six million profiles and integrates a number of the website's most popular features, including messages, search and friends and favourites.
The full article was originally published at Metro.co.uk, but is no longer available.
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