View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Politics
  2. Scotland
18 September 2014updated 09 Jul 2021 6:28am

Date with destiny: Scottish Grindr users back the Union (or do they?)

One intrepid young researcher set out to ask Scottish users of the gay/bi/bicurious-aimed dating app a slightly more serious question than usual. 

By Media Mole

All the final Scottish referendum polls are in, but – stop tweet – a last-minute surprise survey has come in: from Scottish users of the nation’s favourite gay “geosocial networking” app, Grindr. And it’s a fairly big No from them.  

The data [DISCLAIMER NSFW!] personally compiled by Twitter user @machotrouts, points to a result of 47 to 53 per cent in favour of the Union, not a million miles away from Ipsos Mori and Survation’s final polling.

Unsurprisingly, given that questions on Grindr are usually more along the lines of “Hi what u into?”, “Top or bottom?” or “Werk, bitch!” rather than @machotrouts’s “Good evening X. Do you believe Scotland should be an independent country?”, a large proportion of those polled were undecided or plain uninterested (much of the polling does seem to have been conducted in the wee small hours), with only 64 per cent offering definitive answers. However many were both patient and eloquent in laying out their cases for and against independence – despite it being 4am.

Unlike pollsters such as YouGov, who can only speculate, the @machotrout poll was able to give a breakdown of exactly how these undecided Grindr users reacted. So 38 of them were classed as “evading” the question, while a further 13 expressed bemusement at the line of enquiry. A further six were classed as “too horny to answer”, while many just reached for the “block” function. Here are the results in full: 

NO: 114

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

YES: 101

Undecided: 24

Other opinion: 20

Indifference: 15

Evasion: 38

Bemusement: 13

Amusement: 2

Too horny to answer: 6

General rejection: 4

Did not respond: 318

Over to the NS’s in-house polling expert, who had this to say: “Questions abound. Not least because of the survey’s small sample size. @machotrouts solicited 655 opinions, with 337 people responding. This means it has a margin of error far greater than most polls, which ask around 1,000 people and enjoy a far higher response rate.

“With 655 people, @machotrouts’ numbers are liable to swing 4 per cent either way in a follow-up poll. If one only counts the respondents as making up the sample size, that number approaches 6 per cent.” 

Clearly the most glaring problem with the poll is that Grindr users tend towards a certain demographic, one with views not necessarily in line with the general make-up of Scotland. That said, where gay men go, the general population usually follows in their wake (fashion, hairstyles, hook-up apps…) Could Scotland’s early-adopter gay men be the blueprint to the referendum result?

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU