“Facebook helps because I can look up pictures of guys before I meet them too, and I’m picky, so if a friend suggests that I meet a guy, I can use Facebook to look up their information and look to see if I’d be interested in them. He also feels that gay men have limited selections in the real world, so Facebook and social networking sites gives individuals like him more choices. With Facebook, you’re pretty much hoping that your friends will give you reliable information about someone they know is gay, so that you can message them without having any awkward encounters.” So, even though Facebook works most of the times, it gets challenging when you haven’t met the person face-to-face to actually figure out if they are gay. The response I got was, ‘I’m not gay.’ It was pretty embarrassing. I acted like they were gay and asked if they wanted to meet up or hang out. One time, I heard someone was gay, through the grapevine, and then messaged them on Facebook. “I have gotten unlucky by using Facebook before. I’m a really aggressive person online, so I’ll usually inbox the guy who commented and try and start up a conversation.” He told me that this strategy works most of the time, and that because he is a really outgoing individual, many guys are interested in talking to him.Īlthough he feels that Facebook has allowed him to build and establish multiple relationships, it has not always worked out for him. If I am looking at pictures of a guy I know is gay, and I see a different guy comment on the picture and say something like, “You look hot,” I usually assume he’s gay. Or sometimes if I know a guy is gay I will look at their pictures. When I asked him what tactics he uses to find men on Facebook he said, “I usually go on Facebook and search around for guys I know are gay, whether I’m friends with them or not. If you have a friend who has a friend that is gay, then you don’t feel uncomfortable messaging them online, and you can use this space to talk to them about your experiences,” he said. “Yeah I think using a social networking site like Facebook helps because it increases your chances that you will find someone that you can talk to. He says using Facebook is the easiest way for him to find other men because he is not openly gay, and also does not feel comfortable expressing his sexuality in public. One of my gay male friends is notorious for using Facebook to find hook-ups and establish relationships.