Part 1 Online Gay Social Networking Sites: Effects and Marginalization

John, 18 years old, a self confessed gay, recalls five years ago, it would take him either a lot of courage to ask for a man’s name or set-up a blind date through his network of friends. But now, as he claims, with a simple click of a button, he can now ask for someone’s name or their number.

Jerome, 32 years of age, a typical gay considers himself as a queen hiding behind his closet, says fifteen years ago, he would need the skills of a detective to stalk a guy he likes, but now, he can even have the convenience of watching his guy in his own bedroom and having
lesser risks of being caught.

These are just some of the countless advantages of the internet we live with. A lot of people are now joining the social networking sites. Similarly, the number of social networking sites is also increasing. Social networking sites are a type of virtual community that has grown tremendously in popularity over the past few years. The social networking site MySpace ranks sixth in overall web traffic, with over 47 million unique US visitors each month (QuantCast, 2007b).Friendster, as described by Boyd (2004), is a website that allows people to explicitly articulate their social network, present themselves through a Profile (interests and demographics), post public Testimonials about one another, and browse a network of people. Friendster launched its public beta in the fall of 2002. As of early January 2004, the site is still in beta and has amassed over 5 million registered accounts and is still growing (Boyd, 2004). These are some of the most popular heterosexual sites.