Business Insider features Grindr ‘Straight Reporter Briefly Goes Gay In The Name Of Journalism’

Business Insider features Grindr ‘Straight Reporter Briefly Goes Gay In The Name Of Journalism’

By Noah Davis

Straight Reporter Briefly Goes Gay In The Name Of Journalism

The New York Observer sure is into experiential journalism these days.

First, they send Nate Freeman out to flaunt the ban on smoking in public parks.

Now, Freeman, who is straight, is trying to meet dudes on Grindr, the social network for single gay men.

The results? Predictably fantastic.

Five minutes after creating an account on Grindr and uploading a good-looking picture of myself holding a bottle of Chambord — when in Rome, right? — I received a message from a man wearing a button down shirt and flashing a toothy, wholesome smile. He was 32 tears old, six feet tall and 400 feet away.

“Very cute,” he chatted me.

“Oh cool,” I chatted him back. “Hey, wanna meet near 321 44th for a smoke?”

“I wanna fuck,” he responded a few seconds later.

“I don’t think I’m ready for that,” I said. “It’s 4:00 in the afternoon?”

“Damn,” he replied. “BJ?”

I’ll give him credit for persistence. “OK, have to be honest,” I said. “I’m a writer for a newspaper, and I’m writing a profile of grindr, so I wanted to try it out.”

“I’d love to play with u : )” he said.

Next week, Freeman will, well, we don’t have any idea. That’s his job.