Kissing Kamal

Yesterday Grindr came out with a version of their popular meet-up software for Android enabled phones, and a ton of guys rushed to catch the GPS meet-up wave known as “Grindring” that their iPhone cousins have been riding for the past couple years.

I’ve been on and off Grindr on my iPhone since the Android app came out and I’m happy to see so much fresh meat, uh, new faces wanting to say hi and chat.  That said, below are some tips I’ve compiled for new and old users alike on Grindr protocol.

Have a clear face pic! Come on guys.  This is Grindr not some ManHut site.  No one wants to play back and forth chit chat games with an unknown quantity or blurry headshot that could belong to the hot trainer at the gym or Gomer Pyle.

Because Grindr is basically linked to your phone, excluding the iPad and iTouch users, it therefore becomes a part of and you should use it as an opportunity to put your best foot forward.  You can read more of what I have to say on finding a decent profile pic here.

And for those who have non-descript pictures where the camera is 50 yards away and you’re wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap: don’t be surprised if you get blocked (see infra).

It doesn’t always mean something if you’re blocked.  Just like other meet-up sites, Grindr allows you to block users you don’t want to interact with.  Their profile won’t show up on your phone and vice versa.

I love looking at Grindr on my friends phones because sometimes we get entirely different lists of guys, and I’m always curious to see who’s blocking my profile or if my friend is filtering for a certain type of guy (age, build, etc.).

That said, I don’t take offense if a guy blocks my profile.  Because Grindr limits the number of guys it will initially load onto your screen, guys will block the profiles they’ve seen before and don’t have interest in so they can get a fresh crop of profiles.  I also have friends who will block friends/acquaintances for similar reasons, so don’t get touchy; just load more guys.

Don’t stalk me.  Grindr is not a homing device so don’t use it to find out if a guy you like is down the street at a bar where you can pop in and maybe bump into him.  Grindr is for meeting people, so say hello to your potential future boyfriend instead of adding him to your Favorites and getting excited when it shows that he is 1000 feet away from you.

I’m not always on here to meet-up.  If you see me on Grindr during the day, it could be because I’m looking for some afternoon delight, or that I’m just bored at work.  I occasionally use it as way to chat with friends too.  So please don’t be mad with me if I don’t respond to your one word salutation of “sup” “top?” “vers?” “stats?” or “looking” with a sexually-charged reply.

OMG! I’m 20 feet away! This is not always true.  GPS interaction with Grindr gives you an approximate sense of where a person may be in relation to your location.  I find it funny when Grindr will say that a person is 800 feet away and they’re sitting right next to me.  Also, keep in mind that a guy’s proximity to your location doesn’t correspond to that guy’s level of “eagerness” to meet you.

In all, Grindr is just a new, high-tech way to say hello to someone that you may not have met or had the chance to say hi to before.  So please put your best foot forward and happy Grindring!