Is Facebook the new Gaydar?

A Gaydar veteran once told me, “I remember the day when the Egypt page on Gaydar had ten members on it, look at it now it has over 1000 members listed”.
Gaydar has become the refuge of the queers.

A network that is one of the main virtual venues of the Cairo dating scene.

But like real places Gaydar went out of fashion like T.G.I. Friday’s after the ninties.
Gaydar no longer became the “place” to hook up. Thanks to the sleazy manjam and the onset of Facebook mania, “connecting with friends and family” took a whole new meaning.
Aware of the limited resources they have the gay community did not use Facebook the same way it did with Gaydar.

No.

On Facebok your friend list is open for anyone to view it and so it expands the famous “pool of candidates”. And unlike the limitations of “gay for pay” on Gaydar, you actually get to poke as many times as you can dare.

The focus, aim and scope of Facebook is intrinsically different. While Gaydar is primarily a sexdates network (that’s the only reason one could think of why they should charge money for their membership) Facebook was created primarily for rich Harvard students.
And by miracle and six degrees of separation it became a cyber phenomenon. And like any cyber phenomenon it was hijacked by the global capitalist order to milk it out for some cash. Thank God that was restricted for applications and banner ads.

The basic notion of photos and networking through common friends remained more or less unchanged.
The two magical words: Photos and networking.

Its like going to a virtual gay party.

You meet this friend, who know this friend, who knows a friend of a friend and volia you have a sexdate for the night (I say sexdate because in Cairo the concept of “dating” is completely absent from the queers/queens lexicon. You are either someone who is a potential shag or you are boyfriend right away. The configurations, transition, build-up is unheard of).
Instead of going through the hassle of wasting your time socializing your way to get your shag all you have to do is press the “poke” button and you are there.
If the guy likes you or is remotely interested then he will check your photos and poke you back. Or even send you a message. Without the usual dread of limited number of messages to send per day.

Don’t you just love Facebook?

Yet all is not roses and peaches. Facebook has its own CNN reporting agency, better known as “news feed”.
A treacherous mechanism by which every activity you do on Facebook is publicized on everyone of your contacts/friends’ profiles.

It takes a lot of the pressure of coming out.

You could simply poke guys and play around and in less than two hours everyone would know that you “dig dudes”.
Yet by little manipulation one control this Soviet-big-brother-is-watching-you terror, again thanks to “privacy settings”.

At first I hesitated.

I just deleted my Gaydar profile for serious ideological reasons. And although Facebook also has a similar ideological trauma (not least of which is the egocentric, narcissistic tendencies it fosters) one has to go through, I would be glad to pick Facebook any day over Gaydar.

The actual result of all this poking and shit remains to be seen.
Meanwhile lets all bask in the glory of “poking” heaven.