Jack’d, a Mobile Social Networking Application: A Site of Exclusion Within a Site of Inclusion

Abstract

User-generated smartphone applications have created a new level of virtual connectivity for gay males, one in which users can create profiles and meet other users as nearby or as far away as possible. For those within close proximity, the other users can be considered their "virtual neighbors." Although the applications are theoretically designed to be places of inclusion and not exclusion, where any gay male with economic means can download an application, many profiles have been created that exclude other users. Through an examination of profiles on one such application, Jack'd, exclusion is found in the way users celebrate and reinforce ideas of traditional masculinity and denigrate and reinforce stereotypic ideas of femininity embodied by some gay men. Jack'd, and other user-generated smartphone applications, can be read as virtual neighborhoods where one is excluded based on their gender performance.

The Relationship between Masculinity and Internalized Homophobia amongst Australian Gay Men

“…Similar to heteronormative masculinity, straight-acting masculinity is inclusive of anti-effeminacy ideals and homophobia [ 30 ]. For instance, prejudice between straight-acting and effeminate gay men is normalized and even glorified within the gay community and is often perpetrated by others who were previously discriminated against for gender non-conformity [ 31 , 32 ]. This heteronormative approach to masculinity—harassment due to gender non-conformity—is shown to predict later adult life body shame and anxiety among gay men [ 33 , 34 ].…”

Social Network Interventions for HIV Transmission Elimination

“…The utilization of social media for network interventions has increased in popularity given the potential to reach large groups of individuals stratified by interest, location, and demographics. Utilization of Facebook, Instagram, and mobile social networking applications geared toward both social and sexual connectivity (e.g., Grindr, JACK'D) [68] have allowed researchers to set their work within the context of highly utilized technology to reach large groups of individuals [69]. In a study by Broaddus et al 2015, Black MSM who used social media were more likely to engage in sex with HIV transmission potential than those who did not [70].…”

‘What’s my score?’: the complexities of straight male Geo-Social Networking Application use

“…This analysis highlights the relationship some straight men have between living as men aware of sex/gender systems, but simultaneously redeploying sex/gender paradigms when using GSNAs. Men still enacted hegemonic notions of power within relationship communication, and fell victim to the calls for specific representation of self by men seeking sexual partners (Bartone, 2018). The disparity between what they say and what they do is a symptom of living in changing sex/gender systems (Rubin, 2009), where norms are not consistent and still susceptible to traditional conceptualisations of masculinity.…”

“…The impact of traditionalism extends into all parts of the app use with profiles and personal (re) presentations as no exception. Profiles and profile construction are as significant for most men as they are for women when curating online presence (Bartone, 2018;Mowlabocus, 2010;Thaler, 2014;Ward, 2017), perhaps working to equalise perceptions that only women face curatorial sex and gender representational pressures. Men, too, face deep social pressure for proper masculine representation through what Hickey-Moody (2019) calls 'cultural pedagogies of gender' where the performativity of masculinity is inextricable from assemblage (technological and social in this case) and affect (in how these straight men represent themselves in their GSNA profiles).…”