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Social networking site for men seeking men

Fitlads was a social networking, dating/hookup website and app for gay and bisexual men in the United Kingdom. It was launched in April 2003, and introduced video to the app in 2008.

The website was geared towards stereotypical "straight-acting" working-class "chav" or "scally"-type "lads", as well as those with a fetish for sports kits or bondage. It had a rating system for videos, which was seen by scholar David G. Kreps as communicating more "about sex ... than it is about sex itself".

Between 2014 and 2015, the website was one of those used by the serial killer Stephen Port as a means of initially contacting his victims. He also maintained accounts on Sleepyboy, Grindr, Hornet, Badoo, Gaydar, Flirt, DaddyHunt, PlanetRomeo, Manhunt, Slaveboys and CouchSurfing.

Closure

The parent-company behind Fitlads, "FL ONLINE LIMITED", was dissolved on 24 November 2020, and the fitlads.net website no-longer loads.

The final-capture made of the fitlads.net homepage by the Wayback Machine was on 10 August 2020, with new.fitlads.net (a sub-domain where users would log into the site) last-captured on 15 February 2020, suggesting the site went offline sometime in 2020.

References

  1. Staples, Louis (25 March 2019). "Grindr Users Talk Highs and Lows After Ten Years of the App". Vice. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  2. ^ Kreps, David (31 July 2012). "Performing the Discourse of Sexuality Online". Digital Identity and Social Media. IGI Global. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-4666-1916-6.
  3. Sammons, Scott (28 May 2015). "REVIEW: The Top 10 Best Gay Dating Apps". The Gay UK. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  4. Pullen, Christopher; Cooper, Margaret (4 June 2010). LGBT Identity and Online New Media. Routledge. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-136-99753-2.
  5. Frankis, J; Lorimer, K; Davis, M. "Social Media, Men who have Sex with Men and Sexual Health in Lanarkshire: Methodology and Sample Demographics of the Survey Data for Scotland" (PDF). Social Media, Men Who Have Sex with Men and Sexual Health in Lanarkshire: 27.
  6. ^ Kreps, D. G. P. (11 August 2009). "Performing the Discourse of Sexuality Online Foucault, Butler, and Video-sharing on Sexual Social Networking Sites". Americas Conference on Information Systems. 21 (6): 1511–1520. doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.03990.x. PMID 15845079. S2CID 45877734.
  7. Eror, Aleks (17 March 2014). "Scally Lads Are Gay Brits Who Like to Smell Stinky Socks and Have Sex in Tracksuits". Vice. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  8. Rayner, Gordon (4 January 2022). "'If the police had listened, Stephen Port's other victims might still be alive'". The Telegraph.
  9. Duffy, Nick (12 October 2016). "Alleged serial killer 'hunted twinks' across twelve gay hook-up apps". PinkNews.
  10. "FL ONLINE LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  11. "Fitlads - Gay Dating, Chat and Forums". 2020-08-10. Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  12. "Homepage". Fitlads. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
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