Gay men have always made extensive use of the internet for dating. In the UK, a website called Gaydar was the pre-eminent gay social network for a long time. Though other services like Manhunt popped up, many of which appear to be focused more closely on sexual encounters rather than the full gamut of social interaction, Gaydar, perhaps through simple inertia, remained the go-to throughout the late nineties and most of the last decade. It provided a complex, if slightly clunky, set of options that enabled gay men to find, communicate with, and in some cases arrange to meet, other men.

Read more @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/7964000/Grindr-combatting-loneliness-or-a-cruising-ground-for-gays.html