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Blued (app)

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Blued
Original author(s)Ma Baoli/Geng Le
Developer(s)BlueCity Group
Initial release2012; 12 years ago (2012)
Stable release
2.8.16 / March 14, 2019
Operating systemiOS and Android
Available inEnglish, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
TypeSocial network
WebsiteBlued.com

Blued is currently the largest gay social network app in the world.[1] Launched in 2012 in China, the app now has over 40 million users worldwide in 193 countries. The application is available on Android and iOS.[2] Its features include verified profiles, live broadcasting, a timeline, and group conversations. In 2016, the app was valued at 600 million dollars.[3]

History

Ma Baoli, (Chinese: 马保力; pinyin: Mǎ Bǎolì; also known as Geng Le; 耿乐; Gěng Lè), then a closeted police officer in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, set up Danlan (淡蓝; Dànlán; 'light blue', a reference to the Bohai Sea) a message board for gay men, in 2000. As the site gained more attention, his supervisors eventually discovered in 2012 that Ma ran the website and forced him to resign. He then came up with Blue'd, which was initially based on the American app Jack'd, and released it the same year after seeking investors.[4][5]

Today, Blued employs over 200 staff at its headquarters in Beijing, China, and has recently opened new offices in London, UK, and India to overview the rapid expansion of the app overseas. Within 4 years, Blued has become the largest gay social network in the world with over 27 million registered users.[3][6]

The app, the BlueCity group in general and Ma himself have been recognized for their health promotion efforts, particularly in the prevention of HIV/AIDS infections. Danlan had collaborated with health officials in Beijing to promote HIV testing to higher-risk demographics soon after its launch. After one of Ma's friends told him he was infected with HIV in 2009, BlueCity took a more comprehensive approach, eventually hosting forums with Chinese CDC and UNAIDS members, and premier Li Keqiang met with Ma in 2012 to discuss HIV/AIDS in China and discrimination against the LGBT community. This role has also been credited with giving the company more lenient treatment from the Chinese government, which has a mixed record on LGBT rights and has shut down or censored other LGBT online spaces.[4][7]

In 2016, Blued partnered with Hornet, a social networking platform for gay and bisexual men.[8][9] Commenting on the global partnership between Blued and Hornet, Hornet president Sean Howell declared: “Gay apps have evolved over the past few years to more fully engage users, who demand a richer, mobile experience”.[10]

Ma announced that he would resign from BlueCity in August 2022, shortly after it was delisted form Nasdaq.[11]

BlueCity Group

The BlueCity group, of which Ma is CEO of, owns the following platforms:[4]

  • Blued
  • Danlan Public Interest, a HIV prevention nonprofit
  • He Health (荷尔健康; Hè'ěr jiànkāng, a platform for men's health, including through delivery of PrEP
  • LESDO, a social platform for lesbian and bisexual women that was founded in 2014 and was acquired by BlueCity in 2020; reportedly China's second-biggest dating app for lesbians[12]
  • Finka (翻咔), a social media app targeted at gay and bisexual LGBTQ men with a userbase of 2.7 million as of 2019, acquired by BlueCity in 2020[13]
  • Blued Baby, a surrogacy platform for gay Chinese men looking for surrogates in other countries; ceased operations in 2021 after the Zheng Shuang surrogacy controversy

See also

References

  1. ^ "Social app Blued's beta version has reached the UK". December 21, 2016. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  2. ^ "Blued - Official Website (EN)".
  3. ^ a b Hernández, J.C. (December 16, 2016). "Building a Community, and an Empire, With a Gay Dating App in China". New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "To survive, China's biggest gay dating app became a pharmacy". Rest of World. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  5. ^ "The Ex-Cop Behind China's Largest Gay Dating App". NDTV.com. AFP. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  6. ^ "Blued - Official Website (CN)". Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  7. ^ Wang, Yue. "This Chinese Policeman Built The World's Top Gay Dating App, Now He Wants More International Users". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  8. ^ Armand du Plessis (December 16, 2016). "Hornet and Blued, Enter Into First Global Cooperation". Hornet. Archived from the original on March 23, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ @blued (December 20, 2016). "Gay social apps, Blued and Hornet, enter into first global cooperation. @HornetApp" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ McCormick, Joseph Patrick (December 18, 2016). "Gay dating apps Hornet and Blued enter global partnership". Retrieved December 22, 2016 – via pinknews.co.uk.
  11. ^ "Founder of China's largest gay dating app steps down after delisting". South China Morning Post. 22 August 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  12. ^ "BlueCity, owner of China's biggest gay dating app, buys lesbian platform". Reuters. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 2022-12-08 – via www.reuters.com.
  13. ^ "Chinese LGBTQ Dating App Owner BlueCity Acquires Youth-Focused Gay Platform Finka - Caixin Global". www.caixinglobal.com. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
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