Jun: okay so when was your last time using Grindr?
Him: ten minutes ago
Jun: did you talk to someone or just looking?
Him: only looking
Jun: did you say hi to anyone or tap anyone?
Him: mm mmm *no*
Jun: why are you online on grindr?
Him: um to try to find people to connect with in Richmond because i’m a new person
Jun: So you’re looking for like friendship?
Him: more friendship yeah
Jun: really?
Him: mm hmmm
Jun: When you’re using grindr do you think it helps you to feel less lonely? Him: mm mmm
Him: no, I think that it is kind of a placebo effect for loneliness but I consciously know that i’m still lonely but I still use it at the same time so I think it’s like a conscious decision to use grindr in a way that is still very much still by myself you know?
Jun: I know you’ve deleted your grindr a couple times, why did you delete it? Him: I think there becomes an obsession with checking it’s almost like an analogy to a slot machine where you pull a lever and you see what you’re going to get it’s like you refresh grindr or you press the refresh button and suddenly there’s like a new person but sometimes you need to step away from things so that’s why I deleted it (1:54)
Jun: But when you delete it you lose all the information like history, chatting history. Do you think it’s kind of refreshing or do you think it’s like...
Him: I guess like it’s interesting to think about how people start to archive like online experiences right so you can befriend someone on instagram after grindr cause you’re connected with them via another platform so if you suddenly becomes friends with them on another site then maybe maybe the refreshes is sort of like cleansing the people you haven’t connected completely with you know? And you can still go to another platform to find your people but I think you have to cleanse your instagram at some points too
Jun: So that’s why you have a lot of instagram followers?
Him: mm hmm
June: do you think the more friends you get you feel less lonely? (3:00)
Him: not necessarily, I thin out of, for every ten people that you meet maybe one or two people become actual friends and I think that’s a problem with online culture and the way that we are experiencing like culture in general now,
June: do you think that loneliness is different in the online world than it is the real world? ~ eat ~
Him: I think that um, I think that they're kind of similar but also pretty different at the same time so online loneliness is like a controlled loneliness and the real world loneliness is maybe less controlled
Jun: control?
Him: mm hmm
Jun: do you think the internet helps you to feel less lonely or