grindr did clarify more categories than those used in the promo would be available. i still dont approve. but there will in reality be more than the four you have mentioned.

But without these labels we might have to spend time actually getting to know someone. Deary me what a world!

Great article and well said!

No wonder why so many men are claiming to be 'straight acting' and don't define themselves as being gay. Why would you want to say 'I'm gay' and as soon as you say those words your individuality is surrendered to you being a catergorised into a 'type'.

Great article and well written!

Yeah agree with all. Really well written article.

(And I've decided not to join GRINDR until they add a "old, tattooed, freaky, skank" category!! )

I like the labels. I don't use Grindr anymore but when I did I only sought out Twinks so this just makes it easier for people.

Where is the Ageing Twink category?

Can they put in a new category? "Drug Addled"

I would like to filter them out...

Well said!
Surely the labels will be optional though? Every other personal detail on Grindr is so I don't see why labels would be mandatory

Hey guys, Grindr has now responded to this article... take a look:

We'd like to take a moment to respond to your post on Samesame.com.au regarding Grindr's new community feature.

To clarify: When we launch the new Grindr later this summer to our more than 4 million users, we'll be introducing approximately 12 communities, which we will choose based on internal brainstorming, careful research and a series of user surveys and focus groups. Bears, jocks, twinks and muscle are just four examples of the 12 communities.

The new profile field and filter setting with communities will allow users to personalize their experience by specifying what kind of guy they are and what kind of guy they're looking for. That way, they'll increase their odds of finding someone who's just their type. Grindr Xtra users will be able to access even more premium features. And in an effort to make sure no one's left out, we'll be reaching out to all of our users and trying to get new community suggestions from them once we launch the feature.

Of course, it's up to our users whether or not they choose to identify themselves with one of the communities. They can easily opt out of the new feature by simply not joining a community and continue to use Grindr as they always have.

At Grindr, we're committed to helping our users find other users faster. We're confident that the communities feature will accomplish that.

The new info here is that there will be 12 categories! Twinks, Jocks, Bears, Muscle... and we wonder what else? Hopefully Geeks will be there, I'm a proud one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Akersten

Hey guys, Grindr has now responded to this article... take a look:

We'd like to take a moment to respond to your post on Samesame.com.au regarding Grindr's new community feature.

To clarify: When we launch the new Grindr later this summer to our more than 4 million users, we'll be introducing approximately 12 communities, which we will choose based on internal brainstorming, careful research and a series of user surveys and focus groups. Bears, jocks, twinks and muscle are just four examples of the 12 communities.

The new profile field and filter setting with communities will allow users to personalize their experience by specifying what kind of guy they are and what kind of guy they're looking for. That way, they'll increase their odds of finding someone who's just their type. Grindr Xtra users will be able to access even more premium features. And in an effort to make sure no one's left out, we'll be reaching out to all of our users and trying to get new community suggestions from them once we launch the feature.

Of course, it's up to our users whether or not they choose to identify themselves with one of the communities. They can easily opt out of the new feature by simply not joining a community and continue to use Grindr as they always have.

At Grindr, we're committed to helping our users find other users faster. We're confident that the communities feature will accomplish that.

Careful research is basically saying 'we're going to encourage people to label themselves so we can aim marketing towards them more effectively'.

Also the 'communities' aspect will soon enough be mandatory. I highly doubt it will forever be 'opt-in'.

It doesn't need to be mandatory... I actually doubt it will become so. In some ways I can understand why they are doing this. The alternatives to Grindr which are popping up all seem to target specific groups, eg bears with Scruff. It'll be interesting to see how many people opt in to the new categories. x

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Akersten

Hopefully Geeks will be there, I'm a proud one.

+1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Akersten

It doesn't need to be mandatory... I actually doubt it will become so. In some ways I can understand why they are doing this. The alternatives to Grindr which are popping up all seem to target specific groups, eg bears with Scruff. It'll be interesting to see how many people opt in to the new categories. x

They're doing it for marketing and a quick way to make more commodification out of human sexual interaction. People want to belong and the more marginalised, isolated and insecure people are the more readily they will identify as a 'type' to fit into something. I can see the marketing people of Grindr really play this.

Oh please, the reason every organisation does anything is to understand its audience/market better. Some do it for profit! We live in a capitalist society... get over it!

Grindr has some high-profile users, some of them you'd least suspect:

http://dailycurrant.com/2012/07/03/santorum-claims-thought-grindr-coffee-app/

one of the categories should be "breathing" as for many that is the only requirement. :-)

I don't even bother with that section of any of my own online profiles and I don't really use them as a search tool.

You can tell by a pic if they float your boat or not. If it's just a hook-up I'm not going to know them enough to care about their formulation of self-image.

I can see someone who "lives to a label" as some one still in that "trying to workout where they fit" stage of life and they're not yet comfortable in their own skin. Their self image is still being shaped by the validation of others. I couldn't be in a relationship with someone like that.