Adam4Adam
Encyclopedia
Adam4Adam is an American online dating website
designed for men to meet other men "for friendship, romance, or a hot hookup".
, Times Herald-Record
mentions Adam4Adam as among the most notable.
As of September 2005, San Jose Mercury News
ranked Adam4Adam as the second most popular online gay personals site in the country (being ranked behind Gay.com
). As of March 2007, Hitwise ranked it number one (the number two and three position being occupied by Manhunt
and Gay.com
).
.
Unlike similar competitors, Adam4Adam does not charge members to use its full range of services. Instead, Adam4Adam receives revenue from advertising
, particularly from pay-per-view
pornographic
websites and companies offering erection
enhancement drugs like sildenafil
, vardenafil
, tadalafil
and their generic drug
equivalents through mail order
.
The site offers a "plan-a-trip feature" to locate potential friends or dates where one is headed. It also has a specific way of posting party invitations.
Although Adam4Adam has members of all ethnic groups, the percentage of non-White
men represented in member profiles is higher than the percentage of non-White people in the United States population, though the degree to which this is true varies by city/region. For instance, research into demographic representation in Atlanta, San Francisco, and New York City profiles evidences a trend of higher representations of men of color among younger age cohorts, with decreasing diversity in profiles as age increase. This is also true of Adam4Adam membership in the United Kingdom
.
Unlike Manhunt and some other sites, Adam4Adam does not prohibit escort ads. As with most sites of this type, members are allowed to post nude
photos
and many choose to do so.
Adam4Adam provides a "Health Resource" page as well as a page devoted to "Online Safety Tips". The site encourages health organizations to create "Health Counselor" accounts. All these measures encourage good health practices such as safe sex
, getting tested for sexually transmitted infections and avoiding methamphetamine
addiction
. The counselors also discourage the party and play
phenomenon.
area media including the New York Times and WCBS-TV
reported that Adam4Adam was the focus of a conspiracy
to find gay men online to rob
. A number of men in New York City
used the site to lure a Brooklyn
man to a remote area where he was robbed and murder
ed. The men were found when one user was identified via his screenname.
Many news sources reported similar occurrences in the Washington Metropolitan Area
. In discussing the case of a perpetrator of multiple robberies in that region, a Washington, DC police officer
from that police force's Gay
& Lesbian
Liaison Unit said "We've definitely seen an increase in online dating crimes in the past five years" and added that victims of internet dating crimes are "overwhelmingly men cruising for sex
."
The same police officer
also noted that these criminals are often technologically savvy and create profiles using fake information and other people's photos from cyber café
s or public libraries, making them difficult to trace.
A high-profile April 2010 murder investigation in the Washington, D.C., area revealed that the victim, a high school principal, met his assailants through adam4adam.com.
In reporting on the murder of a 39-year-old San Diego man by a 19-year old U.S. Marine, an editorial
in the Gay & Lesbian Times said that the victim:
The site has also been linked to robberies, beatings and kidnappings in Trinidad and Tobago
.
" people who have otherwise kept their sexual orientation somewhat secret.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
has warned United States military personnel that online profiles on Adam4Adam and similar sites are a violation of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell
” policy, and that in some cases online profiles are being used as evidence in outing service members to military command.
According to San Diego Gay & Lesbian Times:
Adam4Adam has also been mentioned by sources such as the New York Daily News
in reference to the outing of an American Idol
contestant who previously had said that he was heterosexual
.
New York Daily News also reported that the Adam4Adam dating profile of artist Ross Bleckner
was printed in the Coagula Art Journal
. In the Coagula Art Journal
article, Bleckner's "age, 33-inch waistline and youthful photo" were questioned, but ultimately accepted by the magazine as true since "overall (for Internet personals), he's a pretty honest, bland dude. Like his art."
Bleckner laughed off the incident, saying "For them, that's high praise!"
recently endorsed the RTA website label.
Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press Writer, March 22, 2007, writes:
Gay & Lesbian News reports that Adam4Adam and similar sites may soon come under an expanded interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 2257, the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act
and wrote:
If successfully applied, these regulations would mean that Adam4Adam and similar companies would have to keep records proving that individuals appearing in photograph
s or video
s are over the age of 18. They would also have to "categorize those documents in a meticulous manner", with failure to comply resulting in possible felony charges and prison time.
An attorney
for the Free Speech Coalition noted:
Further, not only the company but the website's members could be responsible under these same regulations. The same lawyer remarked that if he had a profile on Adam4Adam this would mean:
's profile remained posted on Adam4Adam months after his September 2006 death received widespread press attention. In this article, an Adam4Adam spokesperson is quoted as saying "We deactivate them as soon as we get notified."
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
designed for men to meet other men "for friendship, romance, or a hot hookup".
Ranking
Out of over 800 personals sites (heterosexual and otherwise) in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Times Herald-Record
Times Herald-Record
The Times Herald-Record, often referred to as The Record or Middletown Record in its coverage area, is a daily newspaper published in Middletown, New York, covering the northwest suburbs of New York City. It covers Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties in New York; Pike County in Pennsylvania; and...
mentions Adam4Adam as among the most notable.
As of September 2005, San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
The San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
ranked Adam4Adam as the second most popular online gay personals site in the country (being ranked behind Gay.com
PlanetOut Inc.
PlanetOut Inc. was a public media and entertainment company exclusively targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender demographic...
). As of March 2007, Hitwise ranked it number one (the number two and three position being occupied by Manhunt
Manhunt.net
MANHUNT.net is a social networking website operated by Online Buddies, Inc., that facilitates same-sex introductions. It is owned by its founders, Jonathan Crutchley and Larry Basile. The site has over 4 million profiles worldwide, over 1 million of which are in the United States...
and Gay.com
Gay.com
gay.com is a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the LGBT community. The site is a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site features LGBT-related news and features. As of September 2005, San Jose Mercury News ranked gay.com as the most...
).
Characteristics
Adam4Adam was launched in 2003 by a company called "Convergent Ideas, LLC" and is now operated by "A4A Network Inc.". Adam4Adam's members are mostly in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Unlike similar competitors, Adam4Adam does not charge members to use its full range of services. Instead, Adam4Adam receives revenue from advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
, particularly from pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
pornographic
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
websites and companies offering erection
Erection
Penile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal...
enhancement drugs like sildenafil
Sildenafil
Sildenafil citrate, sold as Viagra, Revatio and under various other trade names, is a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension . It was originally developed by British scientists and then brought to market by the US-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer...
, vardenafil
Vardenafil
Vardenafil is a PDE5 inhibitor used for treating erectile dysfunction that is sold under the trade names Levitra and Staxyn.-History:...
, tadalafil
Tadalafil
Tadalafil is a PDE5 inhibitor, currently marketed in pill form for treating erectile dysfunction under the name Cialis; and under the name Adcirca for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension...
and their generic drug
Generic drug
A generic drug is a drug defined as "a drug product that is comparable to brand/reference listed drug product in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use." It has also been defined as a term referring to any drug marketed under its...
equivalents through mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
.
The site offers a "plan-a-trip feature" to locate potential friends or dates where one is headed. It also has a specific way of posting party invitations.
Although Adam4Adam has members of all ethnic groups, the percentage of non-White
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
men represented in member profiles is higher than the percentage of non-White people in the United States population, though the degree to which this is true varies by city/region. For instance, research into demographic representation in Atlanta, San Francisco, and New York City profiles evidences a trend of higher representations of men of color among younger age cohorts, with decreasing diversity in profiles as age increase. This is also true of Adam4Adam membership in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Unlike Manhunt and some other sites, Adam4Adam does not prohibit escort ads. As with most sites of this type, members are allowed to post nude
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
photos
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
and many choose to do so.
Adam4Adam provides a "Health Resource" page as well as a page devoted to "Online Safety Tips". The site encourages health organizations to create "Health Counselor" accounts. All these measures encourage good health practices such as safe sex
Safe sex
Safe sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. It is also referred to as safer sex or protected sex, while unsafe or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in without precautions...
, getting tested for sexually transmitted infections and avoiding methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
addiction
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
. The counselors also discourage the party and play
Party and play
Party and play , also known as a chemical session, chem session, or simply as partying, is a phenomenon and subculture of recreational drug users who play together sexually, either one-on-one or in groups....
phenomenon.
Crime
In October 2006, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
area media including the New York Times and WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
reported that Adam4Adam was the focus of a conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to find gay men online to rob
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
. A number of men in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
used the site to lure a Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
man to a remote area where he was robbed and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed. The men were found when one user was identified via his screenname.
Many news sources reported similar occurrences in the Washington Metropolitan Area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
. In discussing the case of a perpetrator of multiple robberies in that region, a Washington, DC police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
from that police force's Gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
& Lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
Liaison Unit said "We've definitely seen an increase in online dating crimes in the past five years" and added that victims of internet dating crimes are "overwhelmingly men cruising for sex
Cruising for sex
Cruising for sex, or cruising is the act of walking or driving about a locality in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety...
."
The same police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
also noted that these criminals are often technologically savvy and create profiles using fake information and other people's photos from cyber café
Internet cafe
An Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...
s or public libraries, making them difficult to trace.
A high-profile April 2010 murder investigation in the Washington, D.C., area revealed that the victim, a high school principal, met his assailants through adam4adam.com.
In reporting on the murder of a 39-year-old San Diego man by a 19-year old U.S. Marine, an editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
in the Gay & Lesbian Times said that the victim:
was an avid user of adam4adam.com, a popular gay chat and hook-up Web site. Instincts told us that the victim may have met his killer online and invited him into his Little ItalyNorth Beach, San Francisco, CaliforniaNorth Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
apartment, where he ultimately met his fate.
The site has also been linked to robberies, beatings and kidnappings in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
.
Outing
Adam4Adam has also been used to "outOuting
Outing is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
" people who have otherwise kept their sexual orientation somewhat secret.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a non-profit legal services, watchdog, and policy organization founded in the United States in 1993. It is dedicated to ending discrimination and harassment of gay and lesbian U.S. military personnel negatively affected by the "Don't ask, don't tell"...
has warned United States military personnel that online profiles on Adam4Adam and similar sites are a violation of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell
Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
” policy, and that in some cases online profiles are being used as evidence in outing service members to military command.
According to San Diego Gay & Lesbian Times:
In many cases it’s either a jilted ex-lover, a roommate or friend who is upset about something who knows that the service member has the online ad or profile and they then print out that profile and give it to the command.
Adam4Adam has also been mentioned by sources such as the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
in reference to the outing of an American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
contestant who previously had said that he was heterosexual
Heterosexuality
Heterosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, physical or romantic attractions to persons of the opposite sex";...
.
New York Daily News also reported that the Adam4Adam dating profile of artist Ross Bleckner
Ross Bleckner
-Life and work:"'I always absolutely thought there was a difference between being a young artist and an important young artist,' said Mr. Bleckner, who grew up in Hewlett, L.I., graduated in 1971 from New York University and earned an M.F.A...
was printed in the Coagula Art Journal
Coagula Art Journal
Coagula Art Journal was founded in 1992 by Mat Gleason as a freely distributed contemporary art magazine. Since its inception, the publication remains free as a PDF download, however readers may still obtain a hard copy via "print on demand"....
. In the Coagula Art Journal
Coagula Art Journal
Coagula Art Journal was founded in 1992 by Mat Gleason as a freely distributed contemporary art magazine. Since its inception, the publication remains free as a PDF download, however readers may still obtain a hard copy via "print on demand"....
article, Bleckner's "age, 33-inch waistline and youthful photo" were questioned, but ultimately accepted by the magazine as true since "overall (for Internet personals), he's a pretty honest, bland dude. Like his art."
Bleckner laughed off the incident, saying "For them, that's high praise!"
Dating
While Adam4Adam and other social networking venues are often dismissed as "sex sites", there is evidence to the contrary. For example, the Washington Blade featured an article about the evolution of online dating in which it was reported that:
an increasing number of gay and lesbian youth have taken their first steps into the “gay community” by passing through an online chat roomChat roomThe term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
door. Gay male social networking sites like Manhunt, Adam4Adam and the recently launched DList, for "edgy gay men," provide just as easy an opportunity for men to find a coffee date as easy as a gangbang.
Regulation
Adam4Adam uses the new "Restricted To Adults" label in the metatags of its pages. The RTA label is free to use, voluntary, and universally available to any website that wishes to clearly and effectively label itself as being inappropriate for viewing by minors. The Free Speech CoalitionFree Speech Coalition
The Free Speech Coalition is a non-profit trade association of the pornography and adult entertainment industry in the United States...
recently endorsed the RTA website label.
Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press Writer, March 22, 2007, writes:
Federal judge blocks 1998 online porn law.
Software filters work much better than a 1998 federal law designed to keep pornography away from children on the Internet, a federal judge ruled Thursday in striking down the measure on free-speech grounds.
Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr. also said the Child Online Protection Act fails to address threats that have emerged since the law was written, including online predators on social-networking sites like MySpace, because it targets only commercial Web publishers.
"Even defendant's own study shows that all but the worst performing (software) filters are far more effective than COPA would be at protecting children from sexually explicit material on the Web," said Reed, who presided over a monthlong trial in the fall.
The never-enforced law was Congress' second attempt to protect children from online porn. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2004 a temporary injunction blocking the law from taking effect; Reed on Thursday issued a permanent injunction.
The law would have criminalized Web sites that allow children to access material deemed "harmful to minors" by "contemporary community standards." The sites would have been expected to require a credit card number or other proof of age. Read more here:
Gay & Lesbian News reports that Adam4Adam and similar sites may soon come under an expanded interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 2257, the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act
Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act
The Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988, title VII, subtitle N of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, , , is part of a United States Act of Congress which places stringent record-keeping requirements on the producers of actual, sexually explicit materials...
and wrote:
anyone with a sexually explicit picture on a site like Adam4Adam.com could be considered a secondary producer if the new regulations go into effect, and would be subject to the same type of requirements that the adult Web sitesPornographyPornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
would be under.
If successfully applied, these regulations would mean that Adam4Adam and similar companies would have to keep records proving that individuals appearing in photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s or video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
s are over the age of 18. They would also have to "categorize those documents in a meticulous manner", with failure to comply resulting in possible felony charges and prison time.
An attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
for the Free Speech Coalition noted:
It’s just a series of land mines designed to trap the unwary [...] if you file it wrong, if you put it in [the] wrong alphabetical order [...] you’re facing federal prosecution on a first offense with a maximum of five years, [and] a secondary offense [with] a minimum of two years. It’s just insane.
Further, not only the company but the website's members could be responsible under these same regulations. The same lawyer remarked that if he had a profile on Adam4Adam this would mean:
I would have to have a photocopy of my own ID and a list in my home ready for federal inspection, a paper with my legal name, or any name I have ever used under any circumstances [...] the form of ID I provided to myself, the serial number of that ID and [would have to have it] signed under penalty of perjuryPerjuryPerjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
. If I don’t have that document or a photo of my ID available 20 hours a week for federal inspection, I’ve committed a felony.
Deceased users
An article in The New York Sun entitled "Morbid Web Site Makes Amusement of Online Profiles Left Behind by the Dead" discusses a site that highlights the user profiles on various social networking websites. Adam4Adam is mentioned several times and it is noted that Willi NinjaWilli Ninja
Willi Ninja was an American dancer and choreographer best known for his appearance in the documentary film Paris is Burning....
's profile remained posted on Adam4Adam months after his September 2006 death received widespread press attention. In this article, an Adam4Adam spokesperson is quoted as saying "We deactivate them as soon as we get notified."