Cruising and connecting online: The use of internet chat sites by gay men in Sydney and Melbourne

Abstract

Cruising and connecting online investigates online chat sites as environments in which gay men can socialise and look for sex partners. We conducted original survey research of gay chat site (GCS) users in Melbourne and Sydney and looked at existing data collected in the Gay Community Periodic Surveys. The overall findings of the study were: - Gay chat sites are social as well as sexual environments and support or mediate a range of relationships between gay men - Internet sex-seeking has become a popular supplement to and extension of the sexseeking repertoire of gay-community-attached men - While Internet sex-seeking allows men to meet additional sex partners and is associated with increased rates of some HIV risk behaviour, the medium of gay chat sites may also facilitate HIV risk-reduction practices such as seeking out seroconcordant partners - Gay-community-attached men express distinctive patterns of gay chat site usage, reflecting different attitudes to and experiences of online activity and Internet sex-seeking - Gay chat site users appear to be open to education and prevention activities online.