PINK NEWS – Nov 30 – Grindr has drawn criticism for pushing out a sponsored advertisement about the HIV-preventative drug Truvada dubbed "misleading" by HIV activists. The Grindr ad states that Truvada has been "linked to kidney failure, bone fractures, and even death, in extreme cases". Truvada, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004, was a pill long regarded as the goal of research when it came to stemming the global HIV epidemic. "We know that Truvada is very safe," said Matthew Hodson, executive director of HIV advocacy group aidsmap, "as well as being approved for PrEP it is a longtime mainstay of HIV treatment."
Category: All Gay
Chinese Gay Dating App Blued to Acquire Finka for $36.5M
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Tinder Has Animated a Love Story
AFAQS – Nov 23 – Tinder decided to animate a real-life love story of "how Meera and Priya met on Tinder, worked together on zoom, introduced their pets to each other virtually, kept each other company online, and started something epic!" The film is the love story of a queer couple.
Taimi Gets a Makeover
MEDIUM.COM – Nov 19 – Taimi, the LGBTQ+ social network and dating app, just got a rebranding. The company introduced a new logo, brand identity, and an upgraded app interface.
BlueCity’s LESDO Debuts Customizable User Recommendations and New “Catch” Feature
GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Nov 18 – BlueCity, a world-leading LGBTQ community platform, has introduced new interactive features LESDO, a networking app for the lesbian community in China. This rollout includes a customizable User Recommendation System, which allows users to either prioritize distance or how active other users are to optimize match results. In addition, LESDO is debuting the "Catch" feature, a new way of making contacts. If a user wants to "catch" someone, they will answer a question chosen by the user they are interested in. After sending the answer, the user being "caught" will receive a notification that someone is trying to "catch" their attention and can see the other user's answer. From there, the conversation can progress.
As You Are (AYA) – Indian LGBTQ Dating App
THE HINDU – Nov 4 – Two years ago, when the Supreme Court read down Article 377, decriminalizing homosexuality in India, Sunali Aggarwal had an idea. She began working on a new app, As You Are (AYA). After users fill in basic details, that include gender, orientation, an email address and a phone number, they have to upload a selfie which is verified by the team. The app is in English, and sees 60 people sign up daily with ~5K+ downloads to date. Going beyond just dating, AYA also hopes to provide a space to make friends within the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
BlueCity CEO on His Journey to Creating the First Publicly Listed LGBTQ+ Social Network
BUSINESS INSIDER – Oct 27 – BlueCity is the owner of Blued, the first LBGTQ+-focused social network to go public. It was at a market value of ~$600M. CEO Ma Baoli began his career as a policeman in China before creating his own social network in 2000.
Q: Your first job was as a policeman. How did you make the transition into the tech industry?
A: When the Internet boom hit China in 1998, I started to search for answers. Through the Internet I discovered that homosexuality was not an illness or a disorder. The predecessor of Blued is the website Danlan.com, which I founded in 2000, and was one of China's first and most influential LGBTQ online forums. In 2012, when I saw the big shift from the PC internet to mobile Internet, we launched the Blued app.
Q: How do you plan to expand Blued in the future?
A: We hope to refine and expand our current health services, and feel confident that they will eventually reach users around the world. We also plan to serve different subgroups within the broader LGBTQ+ community, as seen in our recent acquisition of LESDO, a leading Lesbian social-networking app.
Q: What has been the impact of growing restrictions on Chinese companies in the US and other countries?
A: Our staff are working closely with external consultancies and stakeholders to make sure that we are fully compliant with local laws and regulations in markets where we operate.
Q: What impact do you think Blued has had for the LGBT community in China and beyond?
A: We are more than just a social network, dating app or a live streaming platform. Blued is a safe zone for people in the LGBTQ+ community to obtain public health information especially about HIV testing, prevention and education.
Grindr Features Failing to Protect Users From Sexual Predators
ABC – Oct 21 – LGBT Australians have criticized Grindr for allowing predators to easily create new profiles, despite reporting them for harassment or assault. Grindr users only need an email address to create a new profile and no other verification information, like a mobile phone number, is necessary. Unlike other dating apps such as Tinder, Grindr users don't opt-in by swiping on a profile and agreeing to message with someone. That means anyone can message anyone on the app. Grindr also limits the number of times a person can block someone on the app. Users can only block ten profiles per day; unlimited blocking is only available to people who pay for Grindr's premium version.
How Blued Blazed Trail to US Stock Market
NIKKEI ASIA – Oct 16 – The Founder of Blued was police officer by day and online activist by night. Ma Baoli built a business that runs from livestreaming to health care and family planning and made to the U.S. stock market. In July, Blued's parent company, Beijing-based BlueCity Holdings, raised $84.8m in its Nasdaq IPO. Ma founded BlueCity in his Beijing apartment. It is not illegal to be gay in China, but homosexuality was considered a mental disorder until 2001. Ma poured 50k yuan ($7,400), his savings, into building Blued which went viral with 500k users the following year. In 2020 the market valuation is $335m and has DCM Ventures, Xiaomi's investment arm Shunwei Capital and Hong Kong property group New World Development as backers, and has 500 employees. Zank was Blued's chief competitor and was shut down by Chinese regulators in 2017. Lesbian dating app, Rela, was temporarily removed from the Android and Apple app stores in 2017 to undergo an "important adjustment in services."
The global LGBTQ community spent $261B online in 2018, and is expected to double by 2023, according to Frost & Sullivan. BlueCity remains unprofitable reporting a net loss of 3.3m yuan in Q2 2020. Shares trade 40% below their IPO price. BlueCity has piggybacked on the rise of online celebrities, generating 210m yuan, 85% of its revenue, in Q2 2020.
Grindr’s Security Flaw Let Anyone Easily Hijack User Accounts
