- Manhunt.net
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MANHUNT.net 
Detail of Manhunt.netURL manhunt.net Slogan Get On, Get Off. Type of site Online dating service Registration Required Available language(s) English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Italian. Owner Online Buddies, Inc. Created by Online Buddies, Inc. Launched 2001[1] Alexa rank 1,133[2] Current status Online MANHUNT.net is a social networking website operated by Online Buddies, Inc., that facilitates same-sex introductions. It is owned by its founders, Jonathan Crutchley and Larry Basile.[3] The site has over 4 million profiles worldwide, over 1 million of which are in the United States.[1] It is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Contents
History
The official launch date of the Manhunt venture was April 1, 2001. Originally a telephone dating service limited to the Boston area, business declined when more men began to go online to find partners. According to Crutchley:
We decided if the business was going to continue in the long run we needed to put up a website, have guys use the website, and, if it was going to be successful, get them to pay to use the website...The potential’s global, and we’ve reached the tipping point now where there are more subscribers outside the U.S. than in the U.S.[3]
The company now serves all of North America, the European Union, Australia, Latin America and more, continually expanding. The website is available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German. MANHUNT.jp (マンハント.jp Manhanto dotto jēpī) serves Japan. As of December 2006, an independent tracking agency ranked MANHUNT as the largest LGBT-targeted site online, surpassing long-time leader Gay.com.[4]
Newest Features
In mid 2008, MANHUNT made video chat available to members after popular request.
In early 2009, MANHUNT released its first major upgrade in 7 years. The upgrade modernized the site's look and feel and included many sought after features, like the addition of penis length to members' profiles and sexual position preferences.[5][6]
Characteristics
Some profiles are of a non-sexual nature and explicitly state that they are not cruising for sex. However the majority are sexually explicit and include nude photographs and graphic language and are by patrons that are seeking to hook up.[6] Certain terms of disparagement are automatically censored by the software. References to illegal drug use (such as “PNP”) are also disallowed, as are all phrases that might be construed as being related to prostitution (e.g., “I am generous” or “I am looking for generous...”) and those that refer to unprotected sex such as barebacking. This is enforced with keyword filters, but code words (which gay men must resort to use in social situations) have continued to evolve to circumvent these filters.
Spin-off
In 2008, Manhunt launched OnTheHUNT, a sister site dedicated to filming and hosting actual MANHUNT members having sex. The site solicits requests from members to become models and pays up to $1000 for a session. Models can generally pick their scene partner for the shoot which are filmed in members' homes by porn stars such as Jeremy Hall and Matthew Rush. The company believes using porn stars comforts the amateur models.
Compared to similar sites, the average length of the videos is longer. The demographic of models is also more varied as it depends on interested members and with whom they wish to meet. Instead of gay-for-pay models, the site uses out members as models. [7][8]
Health
MANHUNT.net partners with hundreds of community health organizations worldwide under their MANHUNT Cares brand.[6] Each partner has a MANHUNT Cares approved health profile, and the organizations' ads appear on the site alongside members' personal postings. Many of these are partner notification profiles serve as anonymous intermediaries that allow members to inform each other when they may have come in contact with an STD. One advocate at a center run by the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts was quoted in the Boston Herald as saying "In comparison to lots of other sites, it's light-years ahead."[9]
Nevertheless, MANHUNT does not prohibit members from advertising a preference for unsafe sex practices through phrases such as “bareback only.” Manhunt provides a chat room titled "bareback" for people interested in unsafe sex. MANHUNT's general manager told New York Magazine:
It all boils down to personal choice. We believe that people have the right to PNP or not to PNP, to use condoms or not use condoms. What we hope is that people will back up their choices with responsible behavior. We provided an empty site and our customers have filled it. But the majority of them don’t PNP or bareback [...] what we hope is that people will back up their choices with responsible behavior.[10]
Public mentions
The commander of the Washington, D.C., Police Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit said "We've definitely seen an increase in online dating crimes in the past five years," and added that victims of internet dating crimes are "overwhelmingly men cruising for sex." He also noted that criminals are often technologically savvy and create profiles using fake information and other people's photos, making them difficult to trace.[11] MANHUNT's general manager said the company is limited in how it can respond to incidents because of liability and privacy issues: "We get phone calls from all types of people making all kinds of claims...We could be put in a liable position if someone's accusations are not substantiated." [11]
In one case, a Richmond, Virginia, school board chairman's MANHUNT profile was discovered by a Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter. This led to the chairman’s resignation as chairman, although he remained a board member and expressed that "he displayed an inappropriate lack of judgment." Accounts of the incident seemed to indicate that the chairman's resignation was a result of a perceived breach of decorum rather than a violation of any law or ethical standard.[12]
Controversy
Jonathan Crutchley, co-founder MANHUNT, resigned from the company after it was revealed that he had made a $2300 contribution to John McCain’s presidential campaign in March 2008.[13] In February 2009, Crutchley was appointed Chairman of MANHUNT.net's Philanthropy Committee.[14]
References
- ^ a b "Online Buddies: Products". Online Buddies, Inc. 2008. http://www.online-buddies.com/products. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
- ^ "manhunt.net - Traffic Details from Alexa". Alexa Internet, Inc.. 2008. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/manhunt.net. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
- ^ a b Jacobs, Ethan (2008). "Behind the blue screen". Bay Windows. http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=72552. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
- ^ in newsweekly, "Inside MANHUNT.net"
- ^ TheNewMANHUNT.net[dead link]
- ^ a b c Albo, Bonny. "Manhunt Review". About.com. http://dating.about.com/od/gaylesbiandatingsites/fr/manhunt.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
- ^ Knipp, Michael A. (2008-08-28). "MANHUNT spin-off shoots - you score You're into hookups? A new site lets you get paid for them. Legally". Between The Lines News (1635). http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=31681. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ Jacobs, Ethan (2008-04-06). "On the Hunt :: MANHUNT.net leads the Gay Wide Web". Bay Windows. http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=features&sc3=&id=72585. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ Body Health Resources Corporation, 2006 Boston Herald article by Jessica Fargen
- ^ New York Magazine, "A Gay Cruising Site Defends Itself"
- ^ a b Washington Blade June 2006, "Online hookup sites see thefts, assaults"
- ^ Roberts, Polly (2005-12-06). "Johnson Resigns Amid Controversy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20070926213147/http://www.richmond.com/education/output.aspx?Article_ID=4024041&Vertical_ID=11&tier=2&position=1. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ Jacobs, Ethan (2008). "McCain's money shot: MANHUNT co-founder raises a ruckus with donation to GOP nominee". Bay Windows. http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=78846. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
- ^ "Jonathan Crutchley announced as Chairman of the newly formed MANHUNT Philanthropy Committee". Online Buddies, Inc.. 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-01-20. http://www.webcitation.org/5vt9BSRi7. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
External links
Categories:- Companies based in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Same sex online dating
- Social networking services
- Community websites
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