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. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 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.
  3. ↑ Sammons, Scott (28 May 2015). "REVIEW: The Top 10 Best Gay Dating Apps". The Gay UK. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Pullen, Christopher; Cooper, Margaret (4 June 2010). LGBT Identity and Online New Media. Routledge. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-136-99753-2.
  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" (PDF). Social Media, Men Who Have Sex with Men and Sexual Health in Lanarkshire: 27.
  6. 1 2 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. S2CID 45877734.
  7. ↑ Eror, Aleks (17 March 2014). "Scally Lads Are Gay Brits Who Like to Smell Stinky Socks and Have Sex in Tracksuits". Vice. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Rayner, Gordon (4 January 2022). "'If the police had listened, Stephen Port's other victims might still be alive'". The Telegraph.
  9. ↑ Duffy, Nick (12 October 2016). "Alleged serial killer 'hunted twinks' across twelve gay hook-up apps". PinkNews.
  10. ↑ "FL ONLINE LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  11. ↑ "Fitlads - Gay Dating, Chat and Forums". 2020-08-10. Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  12. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200915000000*/https://new.fitlads.net/. Retrieved 2023-11-07. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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