Topics in Digital Media - Fall 09 » Stereotype http://cultureandcommunication.org/f09/tdm Graduate class in (new) Media (networked) Culture and (distributed) Communication @NYU Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:39:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Networking the Gay Male http://cultureandcommunication.org/f09/tdm//networking-the-gay-male/ http://cultureandcommunication.org/f09/tdm//networking-the-gay-male/#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:35:27 +0000 http://cultureandcommunication.org/f09/tdm/?p=2428           Social networking sites have been a booming business in the recent years especially with the more prominent sites such as Myspace and Facebook, and although social networking isn’t altogether a new thing, these versions have brought social networking to a whole new level through the use of new media.  These sites have also opened up the door to other entrepreneurs to find their own audiences to entice through social networking that caters to a particular social subset.  For me, this brings about my interest in new media’s part in the creation of identity for a new generation, as well as questions about the positive or negative impacts of exclusionary social groups.

            For this particular travelogue I would like to take a look at the social networking site DList.  This particular site is, as stated on their welcome page, “a social network for gay guys and their friends.”  While all essential functions of the website are available to anyone who signs up for free, there are a number of features and restrictions that can only be unlocked through a paid subscription; either $10 a month or $25 every three months.  This site has attracted my attention because of the seemingly large number of users and lack of attention that it has attracted even within the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) mass media.  This kind of site is a perfect example of one form of exclusivity within the LGBT community that I believe to be a part of an inability, at times, within the LGBT community to find a cohesive community within itself or even with the outer heteronormative community.

 

            The other issue that intrigues me with this site is what kind of image this site gives to the gay male as a stereotype and the gay male as an individual.  Because this site comes off as a mixed form derived from the likes of Myspace and Gay.com (typically seen as a form of dating site), it seemingly takes on a unique new way to engage their audience and allow gay men to interact in a “safe” space.  But does this “safe” space really give people an open forum to be who they really are, or does it perpetuate a certain type of identity that users feel the need to conform to in order to be apart of this community?  What do the advertisements say about the type of identities the website is looking to entice?  Why have a membership fee that obviously perpetuates a sort of class system within this imagined community?

            As a final approach to this, in order to allow myself to “travel” with my research, I would like to see what sort of connections this site makes with others of the same, or similar, type.  Where does this site stand in the social hierarchy of LGBT networking?

Comments, questions you all might have about the topic as well, or any suggestions anyone might have as a way of furthering this search are MORE THAN WELCOME.Similar Posts:

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