The e-male survey, conducted between November 2006 and January 2007 by the National Centre in HIV Social Research (NCHSR), sought the views of Australian gay and bisexual men on their internet use, relationships with friends and family, and ACE spokesperson Rodney Croome said that there who they trusted and turned to for support.
The survey was the first stage in a broader study investigating how gay and bisexual men use the internet, what role the internet has in men’s social and sexual lives, and how the internet can be used in health promotion and HIV prevention.
471 gay and bisexual men from around Australia completed the survey and the key findings were that:
Many Australian gay and bisexual men have at least one online gay or bisexual male friend they have never met face-to-face.
Many Australian gay and bisexual men have met at least one of their offline gay or bisexual male friends through the internet.
Australian gay and bisexual men do not trust or rely upon their online gay or bisexual male friends as much their other friends and family members.
The men were largely ‘gay-community-attached’ (having gay friends and spending time with gay men) and most were from metropolitan areas. Emphasising the ubiquity of the internet in gay and bisexual men’s lives, nearly three-quarters of the men (72%) said they used the internet to look for male sex partners.
The majority of men (61%) also reported having at least one online gay or bisexual male friend who they had never met face-to-face, and over a fifth (22%) said they had more than 10 online gay or bisexual friends.
The internet also appears to be an efficient way to make ‘real world’, offline friends – the majority of men (63%) reported meeting at least one of their offline gay or bisexual male friends through the internet.
The survey asked men to rate how much they trusted and relied upon diff erent groups of friends and family members. Participants said they relied upon and trusted their female friends the most, followed by offline gay and bisexual male friends and family members. Online gay and bisexual male friends were the least trusted and relied upon group.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Martin Holt, one of the study’s investigators, said “We must remember that although the internet is commonly used by gay and bisexual men to find sex partners, many also find friends.”
“It appears that men may take online friendships offline when they want to build trust and depth within a relationship,” he said.
The second e-male survey will be launched online in late 2007. For further information contact Dr Martin Holt, NCHSR Research Fellow: m.holt@unsw.edu.au or 02 9385 6410.
