Word of the day: Gaydar

Online dating specialists Gaydar have been helping gay guys to connect with each other for over 20 years.

We caught up with John Edwards, the Managing Director of Gaydar, 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 20 years. What are some of the latest features that have been rolled out to Gaydar users?

One thing you learn in business in the 21st Century is that being there a long time is no guarantee of doing well. In recent years, we've seen many household names disappear.

We recognise that we've had to do a lot of work to ensure that Gaydar is keeping pace with the developments in technology and what guys are looking for from a dating or hook-up app.

We've been doing a lot of work on the back-end of Gaydar. From a user perspective, you might not be seeing any changes - but trust me, there's a ton of work required just to keep Gaydar online and operational.

One major change that we've rolled out in recent months has been our Chat system. Chat-rooms have always been a feature of Gaydar, and really popular with Gaydar users. We've updated all of that so that the chat-rooms are more stable and function more smoothly.

We've also made it easier for users to access the premium features that are available within Gaydar. Maybe you need your privacy and don't want to sign-up to a paid Gaydar membership, or perhaps you don't want that ongoing financial commitment - you can now pick and choose any of the Gaydar premium features and access them on a pay-as-you-go basis. This means that everyone can really benefit from the full functionality of Gaydar in a way that's right for them.

Where are Gaydar members located?

Gaydar’s biggest concentration of members is in the UK. After that, our biggest communities of users are in English-speaking countries such as the US, Canada, Ireland, and Australia. In Europe we have a high concentration of members in Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, and Italy. But we do have users all around the world - we'd struggle to find a country where there aren't Gaydar users.

Our recent improvements in functionality really seem to be working - our volume of daily registrations has doubled. There's a lot more guys on Gaydar than there used to be.

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

Because of our history and the length of time we've been in the market, we feel we have a duty of care when it comes to Gaydar.

We've always seen the members of Gaydar - our users - as a community. Wherever you are in the world, you can be part of the Gaydar community of men. Whether you're using the app for a casual hook-up, looking for something longer-term, or just hanging out in the chat-rooms - Gaydar is here to help you connect with other guys.

We can't rest on our laurels - we need to keep developing and evolving and ensuring that we're not only fit-for-purpose but that we're meeting the needs of men around the world. We've got to continue to move with the times in order to be part of the future.

Gaydar has always been gay-owned and gay-run - we think this is really important. We don't want to become a large mindless corporation taking advantage of the LGBTQ community purely for commercial ends. We're here to make the world a better place for gay men.