A Characterization of Internet Dating Network Structures among Nordic Men Who Have Sex with Men

Background The Internet has become an important venue for seeking sexual partners and may facilitate transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Methods We examined a 64-day data log of flirt messages expressing sexual interest among MSM within the Qruiser.com community. We used logistic regression to analyze characteristics of MSM sending and receiving flirt messages and negative binomial regression to examine individual activity and popularity. The structural properties, including the core structure of the flirt network, were analyzed. Results The MSM population consisted of approximately 40% homosexuals and 37% bisexuals, while the remaining 23% included men who identified as heterosexual but searched for sex with men and “experimental”. MSM were more likely to send flirt messages if they were homosexual and aged 40+ years; young people aged < 30 years were more likely to receive a flirt. Possession of a webcam was strongly associated with both sending flirt messages and being a flirt target. The distributions of flirts sent (max kout = 2162) and received (max kin = 84) were highly heterogeneous. Members in central cores were more likely homosexuals, singles, and aged 31–40 years. The probability of a matched flirt (flirt returned from target) increased from 1% in the outer core to 18% in the central core (core size = 4). Discussion The flirt network showed high degree heterogeneity similar to the structural properties of real sexual contact networks with a single central core. Further studies are needed to explore use of webcam for Internet dating.

[1]  A. Ghani,et al.  Risks of Acquiring and Transmitting Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Sexual Partner Networks , 2000, Sexually transmitted diseases.

[2]  John Suler,et al.  The Online Disinhibition Effect , 2004, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[3]  M. McFarlane,et al.  Soliciting sex on the Internet: what are the risks for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV? , 2000, Sexually transmitted diseases.

[4]  L. Amaral,et al.  The web of human sexual contacts , 2001, Nature.

[5]  M. McFarlane,et al.  The Internet as a newly emerging risk environment for sexually transmitted diseases. , 2000, JAMA.

[6]  V. Quinsey,et al.  Sexual Partner Age Preferences of Homosexual and Heterosexual Men and Women , 2000, Archives of sexual behavior.

[7]  B. Mustanski,et al.  Are sexual partners met online associated with HIV/STI risk behaviours? Retrospective and daily diary data in conflict , 2007, AIDS care.

[8]  M E J Newman.  Assortative mixing in networks. , 2002, Physical review letters.

[9]  M. McFarlane,et al.  Finding sex partners on the internet: what is the risk for sexually transmitted infections? , 2008, Sexually Transmitted Infections.

[10]  J. Sautter,et al.  The Social Demography of Internet Dating in the United States , 2010 .

[11]  Mark E. J. Newman,et al.  Power-Law Distributions in Empirical Data , 2007, SIAM Rev..

[12]  Vladimir Batagelj,et al.  Exploratory Social Network Analysis with Pajek , 2005 .

[13]  S. Breedlove,et al.  Homosexual Mating Preferences from an Evolutionary Perspective: Sexual Selection Theory Revisited , 2007, Archives of sexual behavior.

[14]  J. Klausner,et al.  Tracing a syphilis outbreak through cyberspace. , 2000, JAMA.

[15]  Nicole B. Ellison,et al.  Managing Impressions Online: Self-Presentation Processes in the Online Dating Environment , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[16]  W. Mcfarland,et al.  Cruising on the Internet Highway , 2001, Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes.

[17]  Kristian Daneback,et al.  Characteristics of Men Who Have Sex with Men on the Internet But Identify as Heterosexual, Compared with Heterosexually Identified Men Who Have Sex with Women , 2005, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[18]  Kristian Daneback,et al.  Using the Internet to Find Offline Sex Partners , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[19]  M. McPherson,et al.  Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks , 2001 .

[20]  S. Kalichman,et al.  Men Who Have Met Sex Partners via the Internet: Prevalence, Predictors, and Implications for HIV Prevention , 2002, Archives of sexual behavior.

[21]  A. Cooper,et al.  An Internet Study of Cybersex Participants , 2005, Archives of sexual behavior.

[22]  Andrew T. Fiore,et al.  Romantic regressions : an analysis of behavior in online dating systems , 2004 .