Dating

Word of the day: Gaydar

Unlock all the features and put the technology to work.

Means Happy

Jul 30, 2024 — 3 min read

Online dating specialists Gaydar have been helping gay guys to connect with each other for over 25 years.

We caught up with Gareth Johnson - Gaydar’s director of marketing and communications - to talk about some of the latest developments in the world of gay dating.

Gaydar is the original when it comes to online dating, but the world has changed a lot in the past 25 years. How has Gaydar evolved over the decades?

A tough lesson to learn is that longevity - having been there for a long time - is no guarantee of future success. In recent years, we've seen many household names simply disappear because they could no longer navigate the changing world around them.

We were one of the first online social and dating platform for gay men but we've definitely had our challenges keeping up with the rapid pace of technology development in an increasingly crowded market.

Understandably, gay men have very high expectations of what a dating or hook-up app or online experience should deliver for them, so we're constantly working to not only stay up to speed and keeping everything running, but also trying to think ahead so we can exceed the expectations of the men who rely on us to help them connect with others.

The look, the feel, the functionality of Gaydar has definitely evolved since we first launched back in 1999, but at the end of the day our core purpose remains - we're here to help men come together.

Where are Gaydar members located?

Men all around the world use Gaydar - everyday we've got new guys signing up, uploading photos, and sending DMs to make a connection.

We were founded in the UK and that's where our biggest concentration of members is. But you'll also find plenty of men on Gaydar in countries such as the US, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Belgium, and Spain.

What makes Gaydar different to all the other dating apps out there for gay guys?

On one level, the functionality that we offer isn't hugely unique - there's a lot of online dating platforms out there that all work in a fairly similar way.

What is important to us is that we're a dating platform for gay and queer men and we're totally owned and operated by gay and queer men. We're absolutely part of this community and we feel a duty of care in helping men to have the sex and intimacy that they're looking for and that we all need.