It’s a dating app boasting the membership of more than five million users within the span of four years. Available in more than 192 countries, it has easily become the largest all-male dating app in the world, allowing gay, bi and bicurious men from all over to mingle, hook up and find romance with other eligible men.
It’s called Grindr, and in many senses, it works like dozens of other dating apps: You upload a picture, answer a couple of questions about yourself and browse away — chatting with those you’re interested in, discarding those you’re not.
The app is different in a way many find significant: It lets you date others by proximity rather than location. This means that, with the help of location-based mobile services, men can see how close other potential suitors are — perhaps allowing men to accomplish casual hook-ups, romantic dates or new friendships that much sooner.
The company’s slogan, “0 feet away” highlights this aspect of the app and because of it, regards itself as a “new kind of dating experience,” one intended to get men off the screen and into the restaurant (or bedroom) as quickly as possible.
But University of Oregon student Andrew Frederick has mixed feelings about the dating app. He’s been using Grindr on and off for about a year now and has noticed some negative trends. In one sense, it’s useful for curing a bout of loneliness. In another, it has largely become an app for hook ups — perhaps due to its efficiency, its “0 feet away” mantra.
“The concept was good — a place where gay guys could meet each other, talk, see who we got along with,” he said. “But, unfortunately, it’s become nothing but a hook-up app.”
Bryce Bivens, a freshman at the UO and a former Grindr user, would agree. He even goes as far as calling it a “sleazy” app, one only good for making a guy feel bad about himself.
“What I dislike about it,” he said, “is how bad the guys on there can make you feel because you don’t look like their desired guy. I have met a few people on there, and all of them, except for one, wanted sex. Just stop looking for romance in social media and find it the old fashion way. Even if that sounds cheesy.”
Despite all the negative backlash, the fact is that the app is extremely popular. It’s become a part of the gay-dating scene, and its popularity has spawned a wave of competitors, such as Blendr (a similar app for straight men and women), OkCupid and Tinder. But not one compares with Grindr, which amasses over 10,000 new users each and every day.
Frederick doesn’t see these numbers dwindling any time soon.
“It’s instant gratification,” he said. “When you’re feeling lonely, or horny, or both … boom! You basically have a shopping mall of available men.”