“Dude, Where’s Your Face?” Self-Presentation, Self-Description, and Partner Preferences on a Social Networking Application for Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Content Analysis

The current study examined the social networking profiles of men who have sex with men on the popular application Jack’d in order to survey how they self-present, as well as how they describe their partner preferences. Using online disinhibition as a theoretical framework, emphasis was on how men frame their own and others’ masculinity/femininity, age, race, and body type or fitness level. Results indicated that men tended to privilege masculinity, to visually present themselves semi-clothed, and to mention fitness or bodies in the text of their profile. Analysis also revealed that more than 1 in 5 men used a face-absent main profile photo. Significant differences were found based upon the race and weight of profile users. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.