One could argue, and people did it, it’s the top gay dating apps are now optimized For monetization and juice engagement loops. Increasingly invaded by robots, they are sometimes even devoid of real connection.
Grindrwith its 15 million monthly active users, is drowned in advertisements while offering expensive upsells to users. (In February, as part of its “gAI” overhaul, the company announcement a new premium monthly subscription tier for $500.) Sniffies was loved by cruisers until seismic reaction in April, Match Group’s $100 million investment sparked fears that another queer space would be absorbed by a larger dating conglomerate.
As public backlash against popular queer apps continues to mount, a group of tech entrepreneurs are scrambling to meet demand by doubling down on privacy-friendly and community-focused alternatives.
Calum Bowden, who posts under the internet handle @donjackoghue, launched Meet the market in March. Currently only available as a web app, MeetMarket includes all the basic features of your typical hookup app: a customizable profile, a grid of nearby users, with one major difference. It was built on a decentralized identity system, which means MeetMarket does not store users’ emails, passwords, or personal information. Users store everything on their device, giving them full control and ownership of their data and how it is shared. Messages on the platform are end-to-end encrypted and Bowden says it will always be ad-free, even for non-paying members. (A monthly subscription costs €12, or $13.99.)
“Decentralization and data privacy make a lot of sense for queer people in general, and especially in a hostile legal environment or in the United States at the moment, where it’s not really clear which digital platforms actually have their interests in mind,” says the 34-year-old doctoral student in Berlin who studies the sociology of technology and organization.
Within 48 hours of MeetMarket’s launch on March 24, more than 12,000 people had signed up and some 60,000 people have used it since. The app averages 5,000 weekly visitors, according to Bowden, although there isn’t much simultaneous activity in the same cities. “It became more social than necessarily leading to an immediate connection.” But chance encounters still exist, he says. “Lower Midwest jockeys eat market,” one said. user noted on X.
Bowden did not expect public opinion to deteriorate towards Sniffies just weeks after its launch. Yet the timing couldn’t have been more fortuitous. “When Sniffies announced their investment with Match Group, I asked myself: how are they fueling my fire? » he asks. “This is exactly the model that venture capital leads to. This is exactly why these business models for technology are so bad, because they basically force the gentrification of a digital platform.” Sniffies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bowden is a self-described “utopian conspirator” and is the co-founder of Trusta nonprofit that functions as a sort of incubator for prototyping ideas “as a critique of technology and the status quo,” he says. With MeetMarket, he wanted to create an application that would give users more freedom over their experience without devaluing it.
It can sometimes seem like Big Dating wants people to believe that it’s the only solution to cure their romantic woes – Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO of Bumble. recently told Axios that there isn’t much longevity in niche apps, but the opposite is proving just as true as people seek more specificity and intention in their online dating experience.
“Gay men have tribes, subcultures, aesthetics and different ways they want to be seen,” says Justin Finnegan, a 35-year-old software engineer from Toronto who last year created Piecea gay dating app that resonated with bears, chubs, cubs and their admirers, although it was originally intended for all gay men.
Chunkr, currently only available on iOS, combines nearby profiles, map, hotspots and events so people can understand what’s happening around them. There is no ad tracking layer and Chunkr listing in Apple’s system App store contains a privacy statement stating that the developer does not collect any data from the application.
Finnegan acknowledges that Grindr is powerful because of the network effect; everyone is there because a lot of people use it. But his main problem with the app is that it treats gay dating as a single market instead of one also defined by niche, interest-based groups. It’s also building Rush, a sister product to Chunkr intended to reach men who may not immediately see themselves in Chunkr’s bear community. In the meantime, Serieswhich debuted less than a month ago as an app aimed at gay and straight dating, has been warmly welcomed by the people who test it.
Unlike Grindr, which Bowden calls “a hegemonic force in gay life that my entire social scene despises using,” he’s focused on preserving the user experience while evolving the app. Corporate-controlled apps have a fiduciary duty to make money for shareholders – “not to make better lives for gay people,” says Bowden – and that often means users are deprioritized in favor of financial growth, often through increased advertising and basic paid features.
In a statement to WIRED, a Grindr spokesperson acknowledged that, based on user feedback, “the experience hasn’t always been balanced, and we’ve acted accordingly: rolling out recent changes to reduce interruptions for free users.” The company added that improvements were being made as new applications entered the space and that it welcomed competition.
When thinking about how MeetMarket could work, Bowden studied different business models and was drawn to the platform co-op movement, which relies on digital platforms collectively owned and managed by the people who use them. “I don’t necessarily want people who buy shares like a cooperative to get rich because the thing is doing well. I prefer to create wealth in a more social way,” he says.
Bowden is building MeetMarket with steward ownership, a model that gives users veto power over key strategy, content or data decisions. Under steward ownership, application activity is divided into three: users, or stewards, are assigned voting shares. Investors receive economic shares but have no voting rights. And a separate foundation with an independent interest in ensuring that MeetMarket never violates its principles is given a golden share, allowing it to exercise veto power over any attempt to sell MeetMarket or change its principles. In 2022, the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia restructured in a responsible ownership model, sharing control of the company between two separate entities, with all of its profits used to fight the climate crisis.
Bowden has spear a crowdfunding campaign where users have the opportunity to become founding members, starting at €60 ($69) for annual membership or €225 ($262) for lifetime access. Founding members have a say in what features MeetMarket will build next and how its funds are allocated.
“There is such a long history of incredible forms of caring within the queer community. It surprises me that we haven’t inherited that from the previous generation with technology that is actually in our best interests,” Bowden says.
