Survey: Shocking Number Of Gay Men Admit To Sending Dic Pics on Dating Apps

Are other guys having the same experience you are on the gay dating apps? We wondered, too. So we conducted a a nationwide survey of nearly 4,000 gay men last month to gage their behavior. It was no ordinary survey–not with questions like, “Have you ever sent a dic pic?”

Our purpose for the survey was simple: To help you compare your experiences with other gay men. Check out our analysis below the infographic.

This infographic is copyrighted. You may use it if you link back to us.

Before we get into the delicious data (and it is yummy), a couple of things about the survey: Nearly 4,000 gay men ages 18-65 participated over the course of four weeks in February of 2015. None of the survey respondents were paid–they all responded to a Facebook ad promising that it would only take 3 minutes to fill out the 13-question poll. This survey was not commissioned by or for any of the gay dating or hookup apps. It was conducted strictly for grabhim.net. If you’re part of the media you may report any aspect of this survey and use our infographic without asking permission as long as you credit us and link back to this website.

Okay, let’s dive in. We see a couple of things that make our pincers rub with glee. Let’s start with the most scandalous and work our way down:

83% of Gay Men Send Dic Pics.

This is, by far, the most shocking statistic in our survey. Receiving dic pics (whether you asked for them or not) is a rite of passage on the apps, but 83%? Eighty-three percent of men send them? REALLY? Apparently. That means almost everybody on the dating apps has taken the time to pose their penis (to add an optical inch or two, natch), store it on their phone and send it off to strangers they are likely never to meet. Just think, these men have two penises in their pocket!

57% of HIV Negative Men Discriminate Against HIV+ Guys. We asked a simple question: Assuming you’re HIV negative, how likely are you to initiate contact or respond favorably to attractive guys who state they are HIV+ in their profile? The good news is that 43% of gay men said they would be likely/highly likely to make contact. The bad news is that a majority said no. We think that’s bad news because it reveals the depth of HIV stigma among gay men. Is that truly discrimination, though? Or an understandable fear? Given what we know about how easy it is to avoid HIV, the rise of Truvada and how hard it is for the majority of infected men getting treatment to pass on the infection we think it is both—fear-driven discrimination.

10% of HIV+ Men Don’t Disclose Their Status Until Specifically Asked. The good news is that 90% of respondents who are HIV+ said they disclose before having sex. Still, this 10% figure frames an important aspect of keeping yourself safe from infection: Do not assume that all HIV+ men will volunteer their status.

31% of Gay Men Lie About Their Age, Height or Weight. A bitter queen once told us that certain gay men lie and cheat so much you have to count your teeth after they kiss you. We don’t know about that, but it does bring up a question–is this rate of self-reported cheating higher or lower than you would expect? We think it’s about right, given the results of studies on straight men and women using dating apps which show about the same amount of self-reported misrepresentation.







45% of Guys Who Actually Meet Don’t Hook Up. In other words, almost half the time two guys meet, one of them says, “Thanks but no thanks.” The high number of bail-outs might surprise some, given that two strangers who’ve spent a fair amount of time trading pictures (including their penises!), texting, and one assumes, sometimes talking on the phone or Skyping, would NOT end up in each other’s arms. On the other hand, it might be understandable given the amount of lying about age, height and weight (see above). If you thought you were meeting a young hottie and the guy that shows up is so old he owes Jesus ten bucks for the lumber, you’re probably going to bail.

50% of Guys Who Agree To Meet Do It In Their Homes. Giving a complete stranger your street address and greeting him at the door could be seen as brave or stupid, depending on your point of view. Given that 45% of encounters don’t end up in a hookup one assumes there are a lot of very awkward moments when you realize you don’t want to sleep with the stranger you’ve just invited into your living room.

30% of Gay Men Don’t Need To See A Face Pic To Meet Up. Is this indicative of the down low meeting the down low or just another example of plain ol’ junkyard dog scrumping where looks don’t matter but orifices do? Probably a little bit of both.

71% of Gay Men Who Use A Dating App Met Somebody That Resulted in Some Kind Of a Sexual Relationship. By “sexual relationship” we specifically meant dates, boyfriends, or friends with benefits, not just a one-off hookup. We were fairly shocked at this number, given the high rate of bail-outs (45% of men who actually meet decline to hookup or date) and lying (31% of men lie about their age, height or weight). We believe this number is high because the question contained the word “ever.” As in, “Have you EVER met somebody on a dating app that turned into some kind of sexual relationship.” Since gay dating apps have been around for years, the number might make sense.



To see the complete results of our survey please click here.