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read_me.gif Southern Voice Washington Blade

Social Networks Are Gay

Well… not all of them

by j. brotherlove

New social networking sites are popping up so often; it’s enough to make you dizzy. I think I’ve actually hit a wall with them, however. I caught myself nodding off while trying to customize my account at Virb.

With all the hoopla over OpenID, I’m wondering if there is a way to include basic “social media” data with the sign-in so that I don’t have to add my favorite music, movies, books, etc. every time I sign up for the latest social network service.

There are a slew of offerings aimed at non-heterosexuals (because the percentage of online gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals using social media outweigh their heterosexual counterparts). Overwhelmingly, they are white, male and sex-based. But here are a few (nonsexual) social networking sites targeting LGBT folk:

GLEE

We know that the LGBT audience is online—and searching for a space where they can chill and be themselves. The sites that exist right now are either too broad (so the gay community gets lost in the shuffle), too bare-bones (nothing really exciting to do or see) or they just have one thing on their mind (those sites know who they are)… GLEE (Gay. Lesbian. & Everyone Else.) is the world’s first LGBT social and professional networking site…

HIVConnect

Sharing anecdotes, experiences, and theories will help us to learn how the virus adapts, how the medications create changes in the bodies of HIV-positive people, and how we can overcome these new challenges.

Lovetastic

A hopeful alternative for gay men who want to love and be loved… Our community is independently run by gay men who believe in the Lovetastic philosophy: that gay men deserve love and want more than hook-ups.

My Gay Myspace

Welcome to My Gay MySpace a MySpace for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, tranny’s cross-dressers and anyone else who wants to have a good time. My Gay MySpace is 100% free and unlimited space for photo uploads. Not yet a memeber? [Yes, that’s a blatant violation of Mistake #3].

Olivia.com

Olivia.com is a community of amazing women… a place to connect with old and new friends, share stories and photos, network with like minded lesbian professionals or just hang out and have fun.

Just the tip of the iceberg, of course. Check out Mashable to keep abreast of the ever-changing social network landscape. They stay on top of things over there.

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pub: 04/03/2007 | previous entry | next entry | feedback x 5 | subscribe

I’m on the fence with social networking sites. Aside from LinkedIn (and to a degree, Facebook), most of the ones I’m part of are hardly social and about anything but networking. I’m on Virb too, but haven’t really spent a whole lot of time there.

As far as these options in the post, I don’t know if I’d be apt to try them out. GLEE is put on by the same folks who brought us BlackPlanet. Lovetastic is promising, but lacks a lot of members. And My Gay Myspace? Hell, the regular MySpace is gay enough.

I recently got an e-mail from ClickPink to check out their site. I clicked…and it was mostly pink. Next!

i haven’t heard of most of the ones you mentioned, but i have at least 3 accounts and often wonder why. i joined RealJock and quickly deleted my profile when i realized it was just another hook-up site as most of them are. plus the lack of black faces always makes me feel unwelcome.

while some do serve a purpose (hello, i found you!) too many are just places for naked pics, cookie cutter quotes and semi-funny prose. how is it that cock size is almost always a question to be answered on the gay sites?

3. LaRufus

jbrotherlove,dude, you are the best with this sort of info. as a total nerd, yet p/c illiterate, its nice to see you put up some of these sites.

its just a shame that there are so few sites geared towards black gay men.

almost every site that is gay male oriented might as well come with a disclaimer, no black men wanted for chat, and sure as heck not for sex, so, still in the wilderness most of the time, like being invisible in a gay bar with 500 men. maybe brothers like you who understand al this computer stuff will continue to keep us informed on what’s out there. thanks.

You know, the code behind Consumating just went up for grabs …

Jump ball? :-)

Oh snap! Thanks, George. That’s going to yield some interesting results.

Now I just need to get some developers onboard and convince a few angel investors to fund this project.