Accordingly, literature on gay dating apps is generated in different disciplines, namely, sociology and psychology, and in different fields, such as communication studies, gender studies, and HIV prevention studies.
To study these apps and their uses, researchers have adopted distinct approaches. Dating apps designed for gay men, or more broadly, men who have sex with men (MSM), such as Grindr, Scruff, and Jack'd, have become an object of study for social science researchers. The academic world has expressed interest in the increasing prevalence of dating apps. Unlike traditional dating sites, dating apps seem to reduce the time for getting a match unlike Facebook, dating apps bring strangers together. These apps allow users to create profiles to present themselves and interact with each other to reach multiple goals, such as casual sex, dating, or networking.
Recent years have seen a surge in gay men's use of mobile dating applications or “dating apps.” Running on smartphones and working with GPS, dating apps connect users to others in close geographic proximity and often in real time.
