MANILA, Philippines — Popular gay dating app Grindr has unveiled its “Unwrapped” for 2024, revealing the Philippines as the top 2 in terms of the number of gays committing “side dating” globally. 

Singapore ranked first worldwide in side dating while Japan, New Zealand, and Australia also entered the top five.

For those who don’t know, Grindr has become a channel for faster intimate dating since it allows users to find a match, and converse for a bit before doing the deed — hookup. 

Through the years, Grindr has lost its original purpose to be a safe space for the queer community as some struggle to connect with fellow queer to date since the majority of users in the app tend to just hooking up instead of dating.

The Grindr setup

Typically, Grindr users tap on a fellow user they’re interested in talking to. Some, if bold enough, skip this step and directly message the user to express their intentions. Whoever initiates the conversation often sends a photo first, or one might send a photo immediately to set the tone.

If fortunate, the conversation continues, eventually leading to the common question: What’s your position? On the other hand, those who don’t meet someone’s preferences are either blocked or passed over until a match aligns with each user’s sexual preferences.

But what does side dating mean?

Those who enjoy side dating are the type of people who find fulfillment in any sexual act except anal penetration. This evasive sexual act includes making out, oral sex, and mutual masturbation, among others. 

Some Grindr users likewise prefer “side” activity, especially those who enjoy NSA intercourse (no strings attached). But for most users, this type of sexual activity has been labeled as the “safest” form of hooking up to avoid contracting sexually transmitted infections and diseases.

What are the numbers?

The latest tally from the Department of Health showed that as of September, there were a total of 131,335 cases of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and is believed to reach over 215,400 cases before the end of 2024 while over 448,000 cases by 2030 if prevention and interventions “won’t scale up.”

Of these new cases reported in December,  4,362 (95 percent) were men while 233 (5 percent) were women.

On average, over 50 cases were reported daily in the country, it said.

Most popular tags

Globally, Grindr likewise reported that the most popular tags displayed by users include “discreet,” “bi,” “fwb (friends with benefits), “kissing,” and “oral.”

This means most of the users prefer discreet sexual partners who are not out of the closet and not planning to be. This type of preference raises concerns for some advocates, showing “internalized homophobia” and disregarding other gays in the gender spectrum.