Chinese Dating App Blued Wants to Grow Userbase Outside of China
Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, November 03 2023 @ 10:04 am
Last modified on Friday, November 03 2023 @ 11:22 am
Blued, China’s most popular gay dating app, plans to expand in Southeast Asia and in the U.S. while the Chinese government clamps down on LGBTQIA content.
According to Rest of World, Blued’s new parent company New Town wants to make the platform “the world’s largest social network for the LGBTQIA community,” and part of its strategy is to encourage user participation and community interaction, especially outside of China.
New Town’s CEO Li Ping sees enormous potential in the LGBTQIA market, and intends to grow the platform by targeting markets in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Southeast Asia and North America. “The growth of the LGBTQ population in Southeast Asia and North America is particularly evident,” a spokesperson told Rest of World[*1] .
However, the company faces a difficult political climate in its home country of China. The app’s founder Ma Baoli navigated the government regulations for ten years and managed to grow the platform in the region without being shut down – mostly by focusing on offering users HIV resources (as opposed to advocating for rights). He was pushed out of the company in 2022, and while New Town sees revenue and growth potential for the app, it also faces the same government hurdles that Ma encountered.
Competition will be tough as well, according to analysts. Blued and Finka, Blued’s sister app for younger gay and bisexual men, had a combined user base of 7.3 monthly active users in 2022, compared to Grindr’s 12.8 million. While New Town says it has more distinguishing and attractive features than other gay dating apps, such as the livestream and Instagram-like feeds, experts say it will be tough for the company to grow without focus on its user base in China, thanks to government crackdowns on LGBTQIA content and especially dating apps. In addition, people in the region are turning to social and lifestyle platforms like TikTok’s sister app Douyin as an alternative to dating apps, according to Rest of World.
And as far as expanding its U.S. presence, some U.S. users claim that when they log on, they mostly see profiles of ex-pats from China and those looking to sell cryptocurrency schemes.
Many users are leaving Blued because New Town has installed a paywall for important privacy features. Users were once able to send disappearing photos for free on the app, important to those living in areas where LGBTQIA people are stigmatized, and now they must pay about $4 USD per month for the premium subscription to utilize the feature.
There are also privacy and security concerns among U.S. users, especially with Beijing Kunlun’s past ownership of Grindr. The Chinese-based company was forced by a U.S. government agency to sell because sensitive user data could be stored and used by the Chinese government.
Ma Baoli was also a prominent gay person in the Chinese tech industry, and without him involved, the app has waned among users.