Is Grindr the new LinkedIn?

A gay man on X (formerly Twitter) has seen a tweet he posted about networking on Grindr go viral. Jonty Usborne was formerly a media and tech engineer for BBC News and a writer for outlets such as The Independent. He’s now working as a product manager for Google.

This week, Usborne shared a screenshot of a Grindr message he received from someone. The person said, “I saw your Twitter yesterday and saw that you were a product manager at Google and that is a career path I want it follow [sic]. I just moved to LA and would lov…”

The rest of the message was too long for the notification to show.

Usborne, amused, captioned the photo, “LinkedIn is so 2022.”

The tweet has had over 40k likes and thousands of reposts. Many admired the guy’s chutzpah in reaching out to advance his career.

Iconic tbqh— Andiamo (@awejones) September 5, 2023

ya know what? i respect the hustle and the grind(r)— hook my trailer up! (@JFCargill) September 5, 2023

The chances of getting a reply back are higher then trying it through LinkedIn for sure— denise e seus remédios (@theboshe) September 5, 2023

A common experience

Others said they’ve also experienced this themselves.

I've straight up had people pitch video games to me on Grindr— Ryan T. Brown (@Toadsanime) September 5, 2023

This appears to be backed up by Grindr itself. Although it has a reputation as just a hook-up app, a spokesperson for Grindr told Business Insider last month that around one in four of its users say they’re also looking to network. 

“According to data from a survey of Grindr users, approximately 25% of our users say that one of their key activities on Grindr is to network,” they said. “We know people use our app to meet new people in their area and in new towns, and we also have plenty of anecdotal evidence of people making connections that lead to professional opportunities like jobs.”

In fact, in 2020, a man made a video specifically to encourage people to use Grindr to network. You can check it out below. 

The man who made the video, Omaralexis Ochoa, told Insider last month, “Grindr is one of the ways that I’ve made a lot of friends in LA,” he said. “I feel like a lot of gay men make friends through Grindr in that way and to some degree, ‘network’ with the app without really the intention of networking.”

Indeed, in April, Queerty ran a story about a gay man in England who had a plumbing problem. Not knowing his neighbors, he instead reached out to local men on Grindr for a flathead screwdriver. He managed to find one within minutes. 

Usborne has not revealed if he responded to the Grindr user’s message or was able to offer career advice. Queerty has reached out to him for further comment.