PlanetRomeo
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PlanetRomeo logo | |
 | |
| Web address |
www |
|---|---|
| Commercial | Yes |
Type of site | Social networking and dating website for gay and bisexual men as well as transgender. |
| Registration | Yes |
| Available in | Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese |
| Users |
 2.6 million (as of June 2014) |
| Owner | PlanetRomeo B.V. |
| Created by | Jens Schmidt and Manuel Abraham |
| Launched | October 2002 |
| Revenue | Membership fee for PLUS accounts in certain countries; advertising. |
| Current status | Active |
PlanetRomeo, previously named as GayRomeo, is a social network for gay, bisexual and transgender men. The site was established in October 2002 by PlanetRomeo GmbH in Berlin, Germany. It was initially aimed for the German-speaking community but has evolved into an international sphere. The site is commonly used by the male gay community to seek friendship, dating, clubs and other related LGBT themes.[1]
Initially the site was available in German and hence why it used to have a majority of users being from Germanic countries; such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The site has gradually become available in a total of 20 languages. The German-speaking community remains to be the largest community but not the majoritarian.
In order to expand the international services of PlanetRomeo and in order to avoid possible legal problems with the comparatively strict German laws for the protection of children and young people,[2] PlanetRomeo has been operated by PlanetRomeo B.V. located in Amsterdam, Netherlands since September 2006.
In March 2009 the online community Guys4Men.com joined up PlanetRomeo.[3]
Users by country
In Germany, due to its high number of registered users, PlanetRomeo is often called the "Gay Registry Office" (schwules Einwohnermeldeamt) or "The Blue pages" (Die blauen Seiten), referring to the well known telephone directories the yellow pages and the white pages. In a satirical reference to the Nazis' compilation of lists of homosexual men in the 1930s, the German newspaper "Taz" announced: "The pink lists are back".[4]
| Country | User |
|---|---|
| Germany | 379,857 |
| Italy | 118,337 |
| Philippines | 114,158 |
| India | 91,825 |
| France | 83,647 |
| Spain | 63,642 |
| Switzerland | 38,292 |
| Malaysia | 35,925 |
| Thailand | 33,848 |
| United Kingdom | 30,029 |
| Austria | 28,902 |
| Netherlands | 26,389 |
| Greece | 25,786 |
| Belgium | 24,596 |
| USA | 21,802 |
| Turkey | 20,300 |
| Poland | 16,472 |
| Romania | 17,189 |
| Singapore | 12,418 |
| Hungary | 12,101 |
| Serbia | 10,853 |
| Morocco | 9,974 |
| Indonesia | 9,850 |
| Croatia | 8,342 |
| Brazil | 7,287 |
| China | 6,572 |
| Canada - Alberta | 6,208 |
| Russia | 6,023 |
| Portugal | 5,271 |
| United Arab Emirates | 5,156 |
| Australia | 5,075 |
| Sweden | 4,919 |
| Czech Republic | 4,238 |
| Mexico | 3,794 |
| Finland | 3,616 |
| Bulgaria | 3,454 |
| Colombia | 3,309 |
| Slovenia | 3,286 |
| Ireland | 3,184 |
| Ghana | 3,067 |
| Cyprus | 2,901 |
| Norway | 2,881 |
| Israel | 2,835 |
| Peru | 2,572 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2,498 |
| Ivory Coast | 2,453 |
| Denmark | 2,444 |
| Algeria | 2,430 |
| Argentina | 2,395 |
| Vietnam | 2,358 |
| Cameroon | 2,342 |
| Luxembourg | 2,065 |
| Macedonia | 1,855 |
| Egypt | 1,849 |
| Ukraine | 1,741 |
| South Africa | 1,736 |
| Japan | 1,597 |
| Venezuela | 1,560 |
| Slovakia | 1,547 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1,456 |
| Taiwan | 1,442 |
| Lebanon | 1,397 |
| Cuba | 1,290 |
| Estonia | 1,223 |
| Chile | 1,201 |
| Sri Lanka | 1,139 |
| Latvia | 1,102 |
| Malta | 1,070 |
| Montenegro | 1,027 |
| Other | 28,434 |
| Worldwide | 1,389,150 |
| July 29, 2012 | |
| Continent/Region | User |
|---|---|
| Europe | 1,503,414 |
| Asia (excluding the Middle East) | 693,693 |
| Africa | 114,408 |
| North America (excluding Central America) | 179,428 |
| South America | 49,845 |
| Middle East | 37,118 |
| Australia and Oceania | 17,002 |
| Central America | 9,098 |
| Worldwide | 2,661,828 |
| 27 September 2013 | |
Continent- or region-wise distribution of PlanetRomeo users, as of 27th September 2013.
Controversies on PlanetRomeo
Safe sex
PlanetRomeo offers detailed and high-profile information about safer sex, the risks associated with barebacking and other sexually transmitted diseases. Reflecting its community roots PlanetRomeo also freely gives its own point of view about such issues.
Contact information for HIV/AIDS support groups and organisations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland is also provided on the website. There is no censoring of user profiles that promote unsafe sex or barebacking, but in their profiles users have the option to state their position regarding safer sex to indicate whether they always or never practise safer sex or if the issue is up for discussion.
In addition to the health information available on the site, in February 2007 PlanetRomeo launched a live and online health advice service in cooperation with Germany's national NGO for HIV/Aids issues Deutsche Aids-Hilfe. The online supporters are trained in questions of health and healthcare, and all user's enquires are dealt with in the strictest confidence. In this way users are offered the same level of service as when Deutsche Aids-Hilfe do their outreach work in gay bars, clubs and saunas.
Features
Personal profiles
To access PlanetRomeo users create an individual profile which typically includes a simple physical description and one or more photographs of themselves. Sexual preferences, cultural interests and hobbies can be added optionally. PlanetRomeo is exclusively for men (gay, bisexual or transgendered) of eighteen years or older.
Clubs and guide entries
Aside from personal messaging, PlanetRomeo offers users the chance to create clubs-profiles and guide-entries as another way of getting in touch with gay men sharing similar interests. For example the regular customers of a bar or sauna can link their private profile to the club or guide-profile of that place. Members of a particular club can exchange news or discuss diverse subjects in the club's forum or via a newsletter. Clubs also exist for supporters of political parties, members of religious groups and employees in particular industries. There are also clubs that are more sex or fetish orientated such as a club for men who like men with big ears and clubs for men who use drugs such as crystal methamphetamine.[5] There are also fan-clubs for pop or movie stars, classical music etc. In fact, since any user can create a club-profile, the list is limitless.
Community information
Reflecting its community ethos PlanetRomeo also includes a lot of information regarding safer sex, coming out, health support as well as links to gay magazines and other community organizations. All these functions are free on PlanetRomeo.
The PlanetRomeo Foundation
The PlanetRomeo Foundation was established in the Netherlands in 2009.[6] The foundation is a brain-child of PlanetRomeo. The website of the foundation is .
To raise money for or otherwise support charities or other good causes, in particular but not limited to those concerned with the interests of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) communities in areas such as education, culture, gay rights, health, emancipation and sport. To perform other activities that may in some way or to some extent benefit those communities.
The Objectives of The PlanetRomeo Foundation[7]
References
- ↑ GayRomeo Statistics
- ↑ Gayromeo Statement concerning the German Youth Protection Law
- ↑ Article of Austrian magazine "Gayboy" (in German) Archived 22 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Die Tageszeitung - Gefährlich hoher Datingfaktor (in German)
- ↑ Thanki, D.; Frederick, B. (2016). Social media and drug markets, The Internet and drug markets (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction: Insights 21). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. pp. 115–124.
- ↑
- ↑
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to PlanetRomeo. |
- Official website
- How does the Internet affect HIV prevention?
- Thanki, D. & Frederick, B. (2016). 'Social media and drug markets', The internet and drug markets (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction: Insights 21), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
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