Given the context of this research, I have kept the identity of my field sources anonymous. A classroom where homosexual health and sex education do not exist. In search of an identity, gay youth log online to find answers that may not be addressed in a classroom. As cruising has never been this accessible, voluntarily disclosing sexual orientation online through Grindr is critical to the social development of any gay youth (homosexual, bisexual, or curious male) living in a metropolitan area. Online existence through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is intrinsic to the youth of today who have grown up on the internet.
Sex via app is less about a fear of being “outed” and makes sex faster, easier, and cheaper. Primarily used as a tool for fast, convenient and discrete digital cruising, the largest all-male geo-social application, Grindr, facilitates an online existence for men-who-have-sex-with-men, otherwise known as MSM. Grindr is the result of a long history of methods of gay cruising like the Hanky Code and the Tearoom Trade, which existed because men were forced to have sex with men while in the closet.
