Motivation, Appearance Focus, and Exclusion on Gay Dating App “Blued” in China: Content and Network Analysis of Textual Self-Presentation

References

• Anderson, J. R., Holland, E., Koc, Y., & Haslam, N. (2018). iObjectify: Self‐ and other‐objectification on Grindr, a geosocial networking application designed for men who have sex with men. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48(5), 600–613. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2350
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Atari, M., & Jamali, R. (2016). Dimensions of women’s mate preferences: Validation of a mate preference scale in Iran. Evolutionary Psychology, 14(2), 147470491665144. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704916651443
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Badal, H. J., Stryker, J. E., DeLuca, N., & Purcell, D. W. (2018). Swipe right: Dating website and app use among men who have sex with men. AIDS and Behavior, 22(4), 1265–1272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1882-7
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Barrett, D. C., & Pollack, L. M. (2005). Whose gay community? Social class, sexual self-expression, and gay community involvement. Sociological Quarterly, 46(3), 437–456. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00021.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bartholome, A., Tewksbury, R., & Bruzzone, A. (2000). “I want a man”: Patterns of attraction in all-male personal ads. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 8(3), 309–321. https://doi.org/10.3149/jms.0803.309
   Google Scholar
• Blued. (2022). Introduction of blued. Retrieved July 18, from https://www.blued.cn/aboutus.html#intro
   Google Scholar
• Borgatti, S. P. (2002). NetDraw software for network visualization. Analytic Technologies.
   Google Scholar
• Borgatti, S. P., Everett, M. G., & Freeman, L. C. (2002). Ucinet for windows: Software for social network analysis. Analytic Technologies.
   Google Scholar
• Cascalheira, C. J., & Smith, B. A. (2020). Hierarchy of desire: Partner preferences and social identities of men who have sex with men on geosocial networks. Sexuality & Culture, 24(3), 630–648. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-019-09653-z
   Google Scholar
• Chan, L. S. (2016). How sociocultural context matters in self-presentation: A comparison of US and Chinese profiles on Jack’d, a mobile dating app for men who have sex with men. International Journal of Communication, 10, 6040–6059.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chan, L. S. (2017). Emerging currents in communication/LGBTQ studies: A review of LGBTQ-related articles published in communication journals from 2010 to 2015. International Journal of Communication, 11, 2647–2668.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chen, Y., & Ding, R. (2020). What are you looking for? Understanding the uses and gratifications of Blued in mainland China. In S. S. Lam (Ed.), New media spectacles and multimodal creativity in a globalised Asia (pp. 227–249). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7341-5_12
   Google Scholar
• Chow, J. (2022). No fats, no fems, no problems? Working out and the gay muscled body. Sexualities, 25(8), 1077–1095. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607211018331
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chow, P. K. Y., & Cheng, S. T. (2010). Shame, internalized heterosexism, lesbian identity, and coming out to others: A comparative study of lesbians in mainland China and Hong Kong. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(1), 92–104. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017930
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Conner, C. T. (2019). The gay gayze: Expressions of inequality on Grindr. Sociological Quarterly, 60(3), 397–419. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2018.1533394
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Conner, C. T. (2023). How sexual racism and other discriminatory behaviors are rationalized in online dating apps. Deviant Behavior, 44(1), 126–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2021.2019566
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Dang, H., Cai, S., & Lang, X. (2013). Location-based gay communication: An empirical study of smartphone gay apps use in Macau. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2257253
   Google Scholar
• Filice, E., Raffoul, A., Meyer, S. B., & Neiterman, E. (2019). The influence of Grindr, a geosocial networking application, on body image in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men: An exploratory study. Body Image, 31, 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.08.007
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Fitzpatrick, C., Birnholtz, J., & Brubaker, J. R. (2015). Social and personal disclosure in a location-based real time dating app. In Proceedings of the 2015 48th Hawaii international conference on system sciences (pp. 1983–1992). https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2015.237
   Google Scholar
• Forbes, T. D., & Stacey, L. (2022). Personal preferences, discursive strategies, and the maintenance of inequality on gay dating apps. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(5), 2385–2397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02223-1
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Freeman, L. C. (1977). A set of measures of centrality based on betweenness. Sociometry, 40(1), 35–41. https://doi.org/10.2307/3033543
   Google Scholar
• Goedel, W. C., & Duncan, D. T. (2015). Geosocial-networking app usage patterns of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men: Survey among users of Grindr, a mobile dating app. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 1(1), e4. https://doi.org/10.2196/publichealth.4353
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Goltz, D. B. (2014). “We’re not in Oz anymore”: Shifting generational perspectives and tensions of gay community, identity, and future. Journal of Homosexuality, 61(11), 1503–1528. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2014.944042
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Grosskopf, N. A., LeVasseur, M. T., & Glaser, D. B. (2014). Use of the Internet and mobile-based “apps” for sex-seeking among men who have sex with men in New York City. American Journal of Men’s Health, 8(6), 510–520. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988314527311
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hammack, P. L., Grecco, B., Wilson, B. D. M., & Meyer, I. H. (2022). “White, tall, top, masculine, muscular”: Narratives of intracommunity stigma in young sexual minority men’s experience on mobile apps. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(5), 2413–2428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02144-z
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Han, C. (2008). No fats, femmes, or Asians: The utility of critical race theory in examining the role of gay stock stories in the marginalization of gay Asian men. Contemporary Justice Review, 11(1), 11–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10282580701850355
   Google Scholar
• He, L. (2021). Mobile dating in the digital era: Self- presentation on gay dating app Blued [Doctoral dissertation]. Autonomous University of Barcelona. https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/tesis/2021/hdl_10803_672508/lihe1de1.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Hermosa-Bosano, C., Hidalgo-Andrade, P., & Paz, C. (2021). Geosocial networking apps use among sexual minority men in Ecuador: An exploratory study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50(7), 2995–3009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-01921-0
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hill, S. E., & Durante, K. M. (2011). Courtship, competition, and the pursuit of attractiveness: Mating goals facilitate health-related risk taking and strategic risk suppression in women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(3), 383–394. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210395603
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Holloway, I. W., Rice, E., Gibbs, J., Winetrobe, H., Dunlap, S., & Rhoades, H. (2014). Acceptability of smartphone application-based HIV prevention among young men who have sex with men. AIDS and Behavior, 18(2), 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0671-1
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hu, Y. (2016). Sex ideologies in China: Examining interprovince differences. Journal of Sex Research, 53(9), 1118–1130. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2015.1137272
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Jaspal, R. (2017). Gay men’s construction and management of identity on Grindr. Sexuality & Culture, 21(1), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9389-3
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kim, H., Kang, K., Han, S., & Chun, J. (2022). Web-based research trends on child and adolescent cancer survivors over the last 5 years: Text network analysis and topic modeling study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(2), e32309. https://doi.org/10.2196/32309
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kimmel, M. (2004). Masculinity as homophobia. In P. S. Rothenberg (Ed.), Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integrated study (pp. 81–92). Macmillan.
   Google Scholar
• Lemke, R., & Merz, S. (2018). The prevalence and gratification of nude self-presentation of men who have sex with men in online dating environments: Attracting attention, empowerment, and self-verification. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(1), 16–24. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0691
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Liu, J. X., & Choi, K. (2013). Emerging gay identities in China: The prevalence and predictors of social discrimination against men who have sex with men. In P. Liamputtong (Ed.), Stigma, discrimination and living with HIV/AIDS (pp. 271–287). Springer.
   Google Scholar
• Miller, B. (2015). “Dude, where’s your face?” Self-presentation, self-description, and partner preferences on a social networking application for men who have sex with men: A content analysis. Sexuality & Culture, 19(4), 637–658. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-015-9283-4
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Miller, B. (2018). Textually presenting masculinity and the body on mobile dating apps for men who have sex with men. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 26(3), 305–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/1060826518773417
   Google Scholar
• Miller, B. (2020). A picture is worth 1000 messages: Investigating face and body photos on mobile dating apps for men who have sex with men. Journal of Homosexuality, 67(13), 1798–1822. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2019.1610630
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Miller, B., & Behm-Morawitz, E. (2016). “Masculine guys only”: The effects of femmephobic mobile dating application profiles on partner selection for men who have sex with men. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 176–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.088
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Moskowitz, D. A., & Hart, T. A. (2011). The influence of physical body traits and masculinity on anal sex roles in gay and bisexual men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(4), 835–841. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9754-0
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Moskowitz, D. A., & Roloff, M. E. (2017). Recognition and construction of top, bottom, and versatile orientations in gay/bisexual men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46(1), 273–285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0810-7
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Pachankis, J. E., Clark, K. A., Burton, C. L., Hughto, J. M. W., Bränström, R., & Keene, D. E. (2020). Sex, status, competition, and exclusion: Intraminority stress from within the gay community and gay and bisexual men’s mental health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(3), 713–740. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000282
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Parmenter, J. G., Galliher, R. V., & Maughan, A. D. A. (2021). LGBTQ+ emerging adults perceptions of discrimination and exclusion within the LGBTQ+ community. Psychology and Sexuality, 12(4), 289–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2020.1716056
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Paul, J. P., Ayala, G., & Choi, K. (2010). Internet sex ads for MSM and partner selection criteria: The potency of race/ethnicity online. Journal of Sex Research, 47(6), 528–538. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490903244575
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Prell, C. (2012). Social network analysis: History, theory and methodology. SAGE.
   Google Scholar
• Ravenhill, J. P., & de Visser, R. O. (2018). “It takes a man to put me on the bottom”: Gay men’s experiences of masculinity and anal intercourse. Journal of Sex Research, 55(8), 1033–1047. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1403547
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rodriguez, N. S., Huemmer, J., & Blumell, L. E. (2016). Mobile masculinities: An investigation of networked masculinities in gay dating apps. Masculinities & Social Change, 5(3), 241–267. https://doi.org/10.17583/mcs.2016.2047
   Google Scholar
• Sarson, C. (2020). “Hey man, how’s u?”: Masculine speech and straight-acting gay men online. Journal of Gender Studies, 29(8), 897–910. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2020.1794802
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Thoma, B. C., Eckstrand, K. L., Montano, G. T., Rezeppa, T. L., & Marshal, M. P. (2021). Gender nonconformity and minority stress among lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(6), 1165–1183. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620968766
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Tran, A., Kaplan, J. A., Austin, B., Davison, K., Lopez, G., & Agénor, M. (2020). “It’s all outward appearance-based attractions”: A qualitative study of body image among a sample of young gay and bisexual men. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 24(3), 281–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2019.1706683
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Tziallas, E. (2015). Gamified eroticism: Gay male “social networking” applications and self-pornography. Sexuality & Culture, 19(4), 759–775. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-015-9288-z
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Van De Wiele, C., & Tong, S. T. (2014). Breaking boundaries: The uses & gratifications of Grindr. In Proceedings of the 2014 ACM international joint conference on pervasive and ubiquitous computing-ubicomp’14 adjunct (pp. 619–630). https://doi.org/10.1145/2632048.2636070
   Google Scholar
• Varangis, E., Lanzieri, N., Hildebrandt, T., & Feldman, M. (2012). Gay male attraction toward muscular men: Does mating context matter? Body Image, 9(2), 270–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.01.003
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wang, S. (2020). Calculating dating goals: Data gaming and algorithmic sociality on Blued, a Chinese gay dating app. Information, Communication & Society, 23(2), 181–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1490796
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social network analysis: Methods and applications. Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Wei, L., Chen, L., Zhang, H., Yang, Z., Zou, H., Yuan, T., Xiao, Y., Liu, S., Tan, W., Xie, W., Liu, L., Cheng, J., & Zhao, J. (2019). Use of gay app and the associated HIV/syphilis risk among non-commercial men who have sex with men in Shenzhen, China: A serial cross-sectional study. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 95(7), 496–504. https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2018-053902
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zhang, J., Zheng, L., & Zheng, Y. (2018). Consistency in preferences for masculinity in faces, bodies, voices, and personality characteristics among homosexual men in China. Personality and Individual Differences, 134, 137–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.06.009
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zheng, L., Hart, T. A., Noor, S. W., & Wen, G. (2020). Stressors based on sexual orientation and mental health among lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals in China: Minority stress and perceived pressure to get married. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(5), 1769–1782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01693-z
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zheng, L., Hart, T. A., & Zheng, Y. (2013). Attraction to male facial masculinity in gay men in China: Relationship to intercourse preference positions and sociosexual behavior. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42(7), 1223–1232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-0057-x
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zheng, L., Hart, T. A., & Zheng, Y. (2015). Top/bottom sexual self-labels and empathizing–systemizing cognitive styles among gay men in China. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(5), 1431–1438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0475-z
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zheng, L., & Zhang, J. (2021). Demographic and geographic differences in facial masculinity preferences among gay and bisexual men in China. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50(8), 3711–3723. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02082-w
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar