Geosocial Networking Applications: Do Technologies Facilitate Gay Community Connection for Young Men Who Have Sex with Men?

Background:Young men who have sex with men (YMSM, age 18-24 years) have historically used communication technologies as a resource to facilitate connection with the larger gay male community. Connection with the gay community has been found to be negatively associated with mental distress and risk taking behaviors in this population. In 2009, a shift in technology occurred with the introduction of geosocial networking (GSN) apps  (e.g. Grindr, Jack’d, Hornet). These technologies now enable YMSM to connect with other YMSM via a location-based social network. Since the introduction of GSN apps, no known study has investigated the impact of these technologies on gay community connection, nor the agency of YMSM to use these technologies for the purpose of connection. Therefore this study aims to 1) understand if GSN apps facilitate gay community connection (GCC), controlling for use of the other social technologies (i.e., Facebook, Dating websites), 2) investigate the impact of age-group on these relationships by comparing YMSM with older men who have sex with men.

Methods:In 2011, 303 men who have sex with men (195 age 18-24, and 107 age 25-42) were randomly sampled from Los Angeles, California, utilizing a GSN app. Respondents completed a 30-minute online survey. Items included: demographic information, GCC, technology use rationale (i.e., a desire to use the technology to “connect with the gay community”) for GSN apps, Facebook, and online dating sites, and frequency of use for each social technology. Four multivariate linear regressions were conducted to test for the impact of social technology use rationale and frequency of use on both cognitive (i.e., felt connection with the gay community) and enacted (i.e., frequency of community involvement) GCC for each age-group.

Results:Use of social technologies for the purpose of gay community connection varied by age group. Sixty-five percent of YMSM use GSN apps for connection, compared to 49% in the older subsample. All multivariate models were found to be significant. For YMSM, GSN app use rationale (b=0.871, t=2.297, p=0.023), Facebook use rationale (b=0.930, t=2.411, p=0.017), and gay dating site use rationale (b=0.831, t=2.098, p=0.037) were associated with cognitive GCC. Only Facebook use rationale (b=0.934, t=2.021, p=0.045) was associated with enacted GCC. For older men, Facebook rationale was associated (b=1.646, t=3.313, p<0.001) with cognitive GCC, and Facebook use frequency (b=0.379, t=2.103, p=0.038) with enacted GCC.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that, for YMSM, using GSN apps facilitates feeling connected but does not facilitate an enacted connection with the gay community. YMSM who use these technologies for the purpose of connection feel more connected. As gay community connection is associated with wellness, this finding may indicate the utility of GSN apps in allowing young men to feel less isolated and more supported, which should be investigated further, especially in rural and isolated international contexts. While older men who have sex with men are using GSN apps less often for the purpose of connection, they also lack the agency to connect with the gay community even when they use the technology for that very reason.