Grindr Gossip

There was quite a bit of buzz going around yesterday after the announcement of the new edition of Grindr coming this summer. For very good reason, too, if I may say so. In case you missed the hullabaloo, the new version of Grindr is going to have a new filtering system so that users will be sorted into "communities" to make one's ideal type easy to find. They included a screencap of what this new filtering system will look like, and it's no wonder there was a disturbance in the force.

"Wait a minute... Twink? Jock? Bear? Muscle? That's it? What if I don't fit into any of these categories?" These were the questions that were filling up Twitter and stirring up a bit of doubt toward the popular "dating" app.

I wanted to make sure that these people were being heard by the folks at Grindr, so I sent an email back to the representative who had sent me the press release.

Hello, 

I've just been reading your press release about the new edition of Grindr that is coming out this summer, and I have a few questions for you, specifically about this new filter option. First of all, do users create their own categories, or will they be given the narrow list indicated in the screen shots to choose from? And am I correct in assuming that users will have the liberty to select their own category? I have to say I'm greatly concerned about the thousands of gay men who don't identify themselves as a Bear, Jock, Twink, or Muscle man. 

Lucas
ToptoBottomNYC.com

I wasn't sure if I should expect a response or not, but I was quite impressed when a received a reply last night.

Lucas –

Thanks for the response! In answer to your question, those groups - twinks, bears, jocks and muscle – are just examples of some of the categories that the new Grindr will have for men who want to identify themselves with those groups. There will be plenty of other categories which weren’t represented on the sample image and users will be able to select the category of their choosing.

We are always interested in feedback from our users and will take any and all recommendations into account if they would like to suggest a specific category that is not featured as part of the new Grindr!

Thank you,
Jeffrey

So there's that. How do we feel? Better now? I have been mildly consoled, at least for the moment. It seems there is no telling what these "communities" will look like until the upgrade is launched (date unspecified as of yet). I still have doubts about whether there will actually be a community I identify with, but I'm willing to give them a shot. However, I do find it odd that they are using the term "community" when I expect that this new system will build anything but community.