Grindr Unwraps 2022 with Wild Stats Roundup
Just like in 2021, Grindr wrapped up the year by unwrapping some anonymized user statistics that revealed where the hookup app is most used, which countries had the most tops, bottoms, or sides, and what user tags ruled.
Bolivia led the globe with the highest percentage of users who were tops, the app reported, with the United States coming in second. South Kora, Greece, and India rounded out the Top 5. When it comes to bottoming, Denmark commanded the lead, followed by Japan, Serbia, South Africa, and Peru.
Russia boasted top numbers for users who listed themselves as versatile, despite the country's notorious "Don't Say Gay" law — legislation that was made even stricter this year, in the middle of Russia's war of aggression against neighboring democracy Ukraine. The Fins followed behind, along with Croatia, Germany, and Taiwan.
Grindr only this year recognized sides — that is, men who have sex with men and prefer something other than anal sex. China rocketed to the top of this newly acknowledged category, with New Zealand, Costa Rica, Australia, and Singapore filling out the next four spots.
The survey included lots more data, ranging from the practical (9 p.m. is peak Grindr time, evidently; use of the app's "Boost" increased the average user's views by a factor of ten, while increasing messaging five-fold) to the quirky (the "side-eye" emoji was most used on the app, outstripping even the eggplant emoji; "This emoji sometimes appears when someone finds a person attractive," notes dictionary.com) to the glaringly obvious (of course Washington, D.C. has the most active users; you don't bring that many loudly anti-gay Republicans together without all that protesting too much at work yielding to exchanges of "'Sup?" on hookup apps).
When it came to buzz words among busily browsing users, "fwb" popped up most often in user tags (followed by "anon," "kissing," "bi," and "discreet"), while the most search profile tags turned out to be "hung," "trans," and, er, "feet" (along with "bb" and "dom").
Users personalizing their profiles with some pop mostly went for Taylor Swift, making her "All Too Well" their go-to song. Beyonce ("Alien Superstar"), Harry Styles ("As It Was"), Sam Smith and Kim Petras ("Unholy"), and Nicky Minaj ("Super Freaky Girl") also ranked in the Top 5 of the Grindr Playlist.
Gay guys have a hunger for travel, of course, and the app recorded the "most explored cities," with Mexico City getting the lion's share of sojourners' attentions. Bogota, Paris, Madrid, and London also drew travelers. But when it came to the "most explored country," more guys turned out to be Francophiles... mais oui! (India, the UK, Colombia, and Germany filled out the rest of the Top 5 destinations by nation.)
Channel surfers, too, had their tastes reflected in the survey. Yes, "Heartstopper" was high on the list of appointment TV, but HBO's "Euphoria" outstripped even that Netflix hit; "White Lotus" also made the cut, with the surprise being that it came in at No. 4, behind "House of the Dragon." When it came to movies... "Bros," you might ask? Yeah, bro, but in the Number 3 spot, behind "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once," two flicks with kick-ass women in the lead.
"It hasn't been the easiest year for our community — we've had high highs with moments like the passing of the Respect for Marriage Act and Grindr going public, and plenty of low lows with increased transphobic and homophobic legislation and atrocities like the shooting at Club Q," the app's Director of Marketing, Alex Black, said in a statement.
"GRINDR UNWRAPPED this year is a fun, authentic reflection of what our users got up to and got into in 2022," Black added, "and we're glad to help add some levity to the end of year madness."
See the full results of the survey by following this link.