PINK NEWS – Apr 26 – The Electronic Frontier Foundation has warned that gay dating sites are being used by police to entrap men across the Middle East. A 30-year-old man was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012, after asking men out for dates over Facebook.
Category: All Gay
Grindr Removes Advert From Christian Group GodLife
PINK NEWS – Apr 21 - Grindr will remove ads from a Christian group GodLife which had been using Grindr to advertise the ‘four steps to God’, though the group denied it was trying to ‘change’ gays. Grindr has made a business decision not to accept religious advertising.
Grindr Is 5 Years Old, Q&A With Joel Simkhai
INC – Apr 7 – Joel Simkhai founded Grindr, the location-aware hookup app, five years ago. The app has now 5M active monthly users. 75% of revenue comes from subscriptions to Gridr Xtra, which allows users to see more other nearby users.
Q: What motivated you to start Grindr?
A: In my 20s I tried some more traditional dating sites but location was not part of it.
Q: Did you know how to write software?
A: No, I went into this frantic race to find a developer.
Q: Did you take venture capital?
A: We are all self-funded.
Q: Was not taking investment a strategy from the beginning?
A: I like challenges, and I like the idea that if I'm going to risk something, I'm going to get the reward.
Q: How do you find new users?
A: We've done a little Facebook advertising. It's all really word of mouth and press.
Q: What is Tinder doing differently than Blendr did?
A: I think they figured out some things that I didn't figure out. Girls don't want to be harassed by guys. It's a more controlled harass.
Q: Are you worried about Tinder as competition?
A: It's not an app for gay guys.
Q: Are you still growing?
A: Yes, as people get more iPhones globally. Markets like Brazil are growing well for us now.
Q: Would you consider an exit strategy?
A: I'd take $19 billion. But no, I don't think I'd go public.
by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin
The full article was originally published at Palm Beach Post, but is no longer available.
OkCupid ‘Satisfied’ With News Of Mozilla CEO’s Resignation
MASHABLE – Apr 3 – Count OkCupid among those celebrating the resignation of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich on Thursday. OKCupid protested Mozilla on Monday by discouraging users to visit its site via Firefox because Brendan Eich is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples.
OkCupid Urges Boycott Of Mozilla
REUTERS – Mar 31 - OkCupid.com called for a boycott of Mozilla Firefox to protest the world's No. 2 Web browser naming a gay marriage opponent as CEO. OkCupid visitors who accessed the site through Firefox on Monday were tol to use other browsers. "Mozilla's new CEO, Brendan Eich, is an opponent of equal rights for gay couples," the message said. "We would therefore prefer that our users not use Mozilla software to access OkCupid."
An Axe To Grindr? Stories From The Dating Frontline
CHANNEL4 – Mar 28 - Grindr now has 4M users in 192 countries, and 10K new users download the app every day. "It's a physical facilitator, it's about how someone looks," says Pat Cash, a journalist for QX magazine and Grindr user. Mainly young men, free and single, download it up just for sex.
Younger UK Gay Men More Likely To Get Married Than Older Counterparts
PR NEWSWIRE – March 27 – With same sex marriage to be legalized on March 29th in England and Wales, Jack'd surveyed its members, 80% of which are 18-30 years old, on their impressions of marriage and love in modern times. 62% of gay men 18-25 stated they would be open to getting married to another man, whilst only 45% of 26+ saw marriage in their future.
UK Lesbian Dating App “Dattch” Launches In US
THE GUARDIAN – Mar 23 – Dattch, the free UK-based lesbian dating app has just launched in the US. It faces competition from Brenda, which is like Grindr for lesbians. Based on the Pinterest model, where users upload pictures of things they like, Dattch allows users to create a kind of personality mood board, making profiles much more revealing. A new member has to verify her account by linking it up to her Facebook page.
by Eleanor Margolis
See full article at The Guardian
Dutch Politicians Join Grindr To Pick Up Votes
REUTERS – Two Amsterdam local politicians have uploaded their profiles to Grindr to try and pick up votes for their liberal party ahead of elections later this month. “We are very fond of new technology and new media,” said Jan-Bert Vroege, an openly gay candidate for the D66 party. D66 is a progressive opposition party, which was an early proponent of liberal policies in the Netherlands, including gay marriage, euthanasia and drug tolerance. It ranked third in the most recent national opinion polls.
Scruff Gay Dating App Goes Global
DAILY TROJAN – Mar 3 – Johnny Skandros is the founder of Scruff, a social network for gays. The app, available on iOS, Android and Windows, has 6M members from the US, Australia and Brazil. After being in the film industry for three years, Skandros teamed up with Eric Silverberg and started Scruff. Their team has now 30 people. Skandros is considering building a website version of Scruff. Scruff is also looking to hold more events in Europe.
by Sara Clayton
See full article at Daily Trojan