Social:Fitlads

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Short description: Social networking site for men seeking men

Fitlads was a social networking,[1] dating/hookup website and app for gay, bisexual and non-heterosexual men, as well as other men who have sex with men in the United Kingdom .[2][3][4][5] It was launched in April 2003, and introduced video to the app in 2008.[2][6]

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.[2][7] 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".[6]

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.[8] He also maintained accounts on Sleepyboy, Grindr, Hornet, Badoo, Gaydar, Flirt, DaddyHunt, PlanetRomeo, Manhunt, Slaveboys and CouchSurfing.[9]

Closure

The parent-company behind Fitlads, "FL ONLINE LIMITED", was dissolved on 24 November 2020,[10] 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,[11] with new.fitlads.net (a sub-domain where users would log into the site) last-captured on 15 February 2020,[12] 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. https://www.vice.com/en/article/59x83d/grindr-users-talks-highs-and-lows-after-ten-years-of-the-app-1. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 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. https://books.google.com/books?id=YDZalJuWXUYC&pg=PA125. 
  3. ↑ Sammons, Scott (28 May 2015). "REVIEW: The Top 10 Best Gay Dating Apps". The Gay UK. https://www.thegayuk.com/review-the-top-10-best-gay-dating-apps/. 
  4. ↑ Pullen, Christopher; Cooper, Margaret (4 June 2010). LGBT Identity and Online New Media. Routledge. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-136-99753-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=qCLJBQAAQBAJ&dq=fitlads&pg=PT293. 
  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". Social Media, Men Who Have Sex with Men and Sexual Health in Lanarkshire: 27. http://www.sexualhealthnetwork.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014-05-23-01.38.46-PM-Lanarkshire-SMMaSH-Survey-Report-2013-For-Circulation.pdf. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 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): 1–8. doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.03990.x. PMID 15845079. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/2279/. 
  7. ↑ Eror, Aleks (17 March 2014). "Scally Lads Are Gay Brits Who Like to Smell Stinky Socks and Have Sex in Tracksuits". Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wd4jyw/scally-lads-v21n2. 
  8. ↑ Rayner, Gordon (4 January 2022). "'If the police had listened, Stephen Port's other victims might still be alive'". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/four-lives-bbc-stephen-ports-police-failures-victims/. 
  9. ↑ Duffy, Nick (12 October 2016). "Alleged serial killer 'hunted twinks' across twelve gay hook-up apps". PinkNews. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/10/12/alleged-serial-killer-hunted-twinks-across-twelve-gay-hook-up-apps/. 
  10. ↑ "FL ONLINE LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK" (in en). https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC495777. 
  11. ↑ "Fitlads - Gay Dating, Chat and Forums". 2020-08-10. https://www.fitlads.net/. 
  12. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://web.archive.org/web/20200915000000*/https://new.fitlads.net/. 



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